Reverie
by Jade MacGrath
Summary: They walk along her corridors, touch every console they can find, complain about their fate. They're everywhere. And if they won't leave… Destiny will have to take the matter in her own hands. R&R!
1. Reverie

Title: Reverie

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I don't own SGU, just borrowing the characters for a little fun.

Characters: Destiny, Col. Young, Lt. Scott, Tamara Johansen, Eli Wallace

Summary: _They just want to go home. Like children let free to do whatever they please, they walk along her corridors, touch every console they can find, override systems, complain about their fate. They're _everywhere_, and they don't have the right to be. And if they won't leave… she'll have to take the matter in her own hands._

Unbeta'd, so forgive my mistakes ; )

Note: The idea came to me during the first rehab session, grew bigger throughout the week and found a conclusion today. Like I needed proof that I shouldn't be left alone with myself in a dark room with machinery resembling a Cylon Centurion. Enjoy!

* * *

_Destiny is old. She belongs to a distant time when Ancient ships were sentient and considered a member of the crew, not just a way of transport. A time when the Milky Way was a dangerous place, and her people, just arrived from another galaxy, needed all the help they could get to win their battles. Destiny is one of the last ones left to remember that period, though: the majority of her sisters have all fallen out of the sky millennia ago, burning like stars for a glorious instant before disappearing in the deepness of space. Heroes forever remembered but no longer needed, now that peace was finally achieved._

_Destiny remembers her old crew and her commander. She proudly watched him and many of her crew ascending and disappearing in a shining white light, one by one, until she was left alone and with a mission to carry on. She barely remembers the blue planet she left, and the mute, deaf, and blind sister the other Ancients were starting to build when she left the galaxy. There's no point in remembering home and Atlantis, if she won't ever see them again. It's not the mission she inherited from her crew._

_Destiny can't help but get her hopes up when she finally sees the Stargate activating. It took ages, but a new crew is coming; her mission was not forgotten. But then she observes those scared men and women appearing one after the other in the Gate Room, and Destiny immediately knows they're not who she has been waiting for all those years. Someone defines them the wrong people in the wrong place, and Destiny can't help but agree with that wounded soldier and his words. They don't want to be there. They don't understand the importance of the legacy left behind by her first crew. Her _only_ crew. _

_They just want to go home. Like children let free to do whatever they please, they walk in her corridors, touch every console they can find, override systems, complain about their fate. They're everywhere, and they don't have the right to be. And if they won't leave… she'll have to take the matter in her own hands._

_Destiny is a soldier at heart, and she never fought a battle that she couldn't win. _

_This time won't be any different._

* * *

"TJ… what does it mean you don't know? You're the doctor, you must have some ideas."

TJ shook her head, and looked at Col. Young in the eyes. "Sir, like I told you… All the sick people have eaten the same things, drank the same water and lived in the same areas as the rest of us. Apparently, there are no external causes for their coma. It could be just a matter of time before it could happen to all of us, or it could just end with them. It's too early, we'll just have to wait and see."

"But there must be something we can do."

"If we could locate the original sickbay on this, maybe I could run some more tests on my patients. But at the moment, my theories are as good as everybody else's, sir."

Young leaned on the back of his chair with his eyes closed, and took a deep breath. "Do what you can, TJ. Keep me posted on the situation."

"Yes, sir," replied the paramedic, and left the room. Young gave the communication stones a long glance. What was he supposed to say to his superiors on Earth? Three days after they restored the life support on the ship, people went to sleep at the end of the day to never wake up the morning after. Ten people up to that moment had fallen into coma, and if Johansen and the other scientists didn't isolate the cause, Young feared the number of comatose people would just get bigger and bigger.

Well, there was no point in postponing that moment any longer. Young lit the pad and put his hand on the stone, putting it into place, when a female hand stopped him. Startled, he looked at her right, and saw a young woman in a black leather military uniform with dark blonde hair tied up in a bun and big, brown eyes leaning against his desk.

"Hello, Colonel Young."

The Colonel looked at her in confusion. "What the hell…?"

"You've so much weight on your shoulders right now. And your superiors on Earth… They can do _nothing_ for you. Except mining your authority, perhaps. That Telford… What does he know? He comes and goes. You're the one that stays here all the time."

"Who are you? How did you get in here?"

Destiny smiled. "It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is what I can do to relieve you of your burden. The question is… do you want it? Or do you have a glutton for self-punishment?"

Young frowned again, but for a second he found the suggestion of that young woman really tempting. A second in which he thought of his wife, of his life on earth, and what could've happened if Rush had never dialed that damn address.

"Just what I needed to hear. Thank you."

Young's frown deepened. Little he knew it was already too late.

Two hours later, when TJ knocked at his door to report two new cases, she found the Colonel unconscious on the chair, in the same position she had left him earlier that day.

* * *

_Destiny remembers her old crew, but most of all she remembers her captain. He literally saved her life when she was considered too damaged from war to keep going. He probably recognized in her a kindred soul. Like her, Janek felt like he had nothing left to lose after losing Rani, one of her younger sisters, and so did what survived of his last crew. No one really thought their partnership could work; they proved them all wrong by becoming a living legend between the other crews and Alteran ships. And when the last great war was over, she was so close with everyone onboard that when she was destined to deep-space exploration and transformed in a scientific vessel and generational ship, they all joined the new mission and never regret, not even for an instant, their decision to leave their newfound home galaxy. She would've done _everything_ for them._

_Destiny wonders what they would think of her now. She watches the ship doctor tend to the people she visited in their sleep, struggling to find a solution, a cure, anything that could help them wake up. She doesn't seem to suspect what – who – is behind this situation. She's not surprised; if they knew about her, they would've been more respectful in her regards from the start._

_Destiny was the perfect match for her crew, but they're long gone. And maybe, just maybe, Destiny should've known better than trade for them part of her logic for human emotions. With human emotions come irrationality. _

_And more human flaws than she's willing to admit._

* * *

"Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned…"

Lieutenant Scott turned immediately, and asked the tall, brown-haired girl on his bed how she got there. And most of all, why she called him that way. No one but Chloe knew about his past, and he didn't picture her as someone that would talk with others about something so personal.

"I've heard you pray, when you recorded that video message. It was a nice prayer. There are not many religious people around here… Maybe you want to hear my confession?"

"I'm not a priest."

"Oh, I know that very well. The way you look at Chloe says it all. But she's asleep now. I don't think it matters anymore, does it?"

"No. No, she's not, I've talked to her just a few minutes ago…"

Destiny shrugged and gave Scott an apologetic smile. "It doesn't take long. It _never_ takes long. She's with her father now. Nothing ever happened to him..."

"What the hell are you talking about? Who are you?"

"That's for me to know and for you to wonder about."

"There are only eighty people on board this ship, I'll figure it out pretty fast."

"Good luck with that."

"You're going to need it more than me," he hissed.

Destiny tried to keep a straight face, but she end up laughing. "Oh, you're _threatening_ me! That's so cute. But maybe now you want to reconsider."

"Reconsider what?"

"Look around you, Lieutenant."

At that point, Scott renounced to understand what was going on. He was in his quarters onboard the Destiny, and in a blink of a eye he was in the garden of a huge mansion. He could feel the sun on his face, the light breeze on his skin. In front of him, that mysterious woman was still smirking, like she knew something he ignored.

"I said," repeated Destiny, "Look around you."

Scott obeyed. He would've loved to ask that woman again who the hell she was, but she would've probably ignored him. And what he was seeing at his right made him forget all his questions and doubts for at least one second. The one second Destiny needed to lock him inside his reverie, and inside his own mind.

"Chloe?"

Chloe smiled to the soldier, and the two hug while Chloe started to explain what happened to her, that her father was alive and well, and asked him about the brown-haired woman that brought her there.

"Did she tell you who she is?"

"Ask her yourself. She's right here," Scott said, turning to look at Destiny. But Destiny was already gone, ready to visit someone else.

Two minds locked up in the same reverie.

She was improving with practice.

* * *

_Destiny is unhappy. The more people she puts to sleep, the more the still awake ones become annoying and whiny. She thought that taking the Colonel and the Lieutenant out of the picture would make the chain of command fall apart, but apparently the most annoying one, the scientist blamed by everyone – including her – for bringing them there, put himself in charge of the survivors. Destiny hoped he would go to sleep, sooner or later, but apparently that nervous, crazy man doesn't feel the need to rest. She tries to get in his head during the few seconds he allows himself to relax, but she's immediately thrown out the second he regains control._

_Destiny has finally found her match. That pleases her; she will keep that man for last._

_There is another brilliant mind aboard ,though, someone the scientist needs more than the others._

_For the moment, Destiny will settle for him._

* * *

Eli threw himself on his bed without even removing the shoes. He never thought he would actually beg for another system failure… but at least, that kind of problem he could solve. That mysterious illness that showed no symptoms and wasn't caused by any detectable virus or toxins was the only thing everybody talked about. But apart from talking, they couldn't do much more to help the sick people. TJ and the other civilians made sure the comatose people were comfortable, but the medical supplies were running out and in three days time they would run out of IV bags. People would start to get dehydrated and die.

And there was nothing they could do, beside standing there and watch them die.

Eli sighed, and closed his eyes. He just wanted to sleep for a few hours and forget everything. Maybe he would be lucky and dream of his mom…

"Hi, Eli."

Eli opened his eyes and stared at the girl sitting on his bed next to him.

"You're not Tricia Helfer. Weird…"

Destiny raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Well, see, usually there's this hot girl in your place... Not that you're not hot, I mean, you totally are… Oh God, did I just said that aloud?"

"So you know you're dreaming. I'm impressed."

"Do I know you? I don't dream of people I don't know, or I've never seen before."

"You never met me. But this is also a very strange dream," said Destiny with a smile.

"Are you my subconscious talking? Cause that would be _really_ cool."

Destiny suppressed a laugh. She touched her lips briefly, almost surprised by her reaction. Why she couldn't just go ahead and do to that child what she did to the others?

"Nope. Other theories?"

"My own personal Head!Six."

"Red is not my color," replied Destiny, after Eli explained her what was an Head!Six.

"Alien life form accidentally taken onboard from the lime planet?"

"No, it just stayed there."

"What? There was a real, honest-to-God alien there and I missed it? Damn!"

Eli let his defenses down, and in that moment Destiny could see clearly in his head… He longed to see his mother and his home again, like the others. But he also knew that was the trip of a lifetime. No one onboard was that positive about their future; Eli, on the other hand, really thought they could make it. And he thought Destiny was a really cool ship. A little old, but definitely cool.

"Did Rush have any idea about the position of the bridge, or how to access the core systems?"

Now was Eli's turn to look surprised. "Why are we talking about him in my dream?"

"Get up, Eli, I have to show you something before I change my mind," she said, getting up from the bed and walking to the door. Eli sat on the bed and gave her a dubious look.

"What are you? For real?"

"I'd like you to keep using 'Who', if you don't mind. I stopped considering myself a thing many thousands of years ago."

"W-Wait. Just wait a tiny, little second. What did you just say?"

"Oh, come on. You can believe I'm a figment of your subconscious, or an alien, but you can't believe _this_? I'm disappointed, Eli."

Eli got up and moved a few steps towards the brown-haired girl of his dream. She was waiting for him to say it, he knew that. But all things considered… he was on a ship several billion light years from home, he set foot on an alien planet, and he saw with his own eyes that very ship flying into a gas giant's atmosphere and then into a sun to recharge its batteries. Right, wrong pronoun. _Her_ batteries.

"Destiny…"

Destiny smiled again and bowed her head.

"You're the artificial intelligence controlling the ship."

"Correct."

"And you're talking to me because…?"

"Because I changed my mind about you. You want to be here. A part of you does, anyway. The others just wanted to go away… I merely granted their wishes."

"Sorry… did you just say all those people are not sick? It's been _you_ all the time?"

"I didn't want them here as much as they did."

"But they're gonna die! You must let them go, now!"

"They're not my crew."

"Ok. Right. Fair point, Destiny. But we can _become_ your crew. Give us a chance. I get it, you've been on your own for a really looooong time, but now we're here too. Maybe we didn't give you a great first impression, but we're not that bad. I mean, you're talking to me right now…"

"Actually… you're currently sleepwalking."

"_What_?"

"I'm trying to keep you all in one piece here, Eli. That doesn't help. Besides, I can't interact with people when they're completely awake. It's a compromise."

"Ok. Compromise. Compromise is good. Where are we going?"

"Wait and see."

"Just to clarify… Don't think I've forgotten about the coma thing."

"I don't expect you to."

"Good. Then… Let's go."

_Destiny should've known better than give it to her curiosity. Talking with Eli is changing her perspective, and she's starting to feel… guilty. Eli seems sure that's because she has been alone for all those years and she forgot what's like to be around real people. He's probably right._

_Eli cannot be silenced; he's asking her a million things all at once, and Destiny enjoys the attention while answering the best she can to all his questions. He doesn't know that all the people she's already visited are waking up as she speaks, but he will when he wakes up, too. _

_Eli's face when they finally get inside the bridge cannot be described. He's completely in awe in front of everything, but when he asks her how to change the ship's course and go back to Earth, Destiny doesn't reply. It's not the mission, and they're not her crew yet._

_Only time will tell._

_And her time with Eli has just run out._

"Eli? Eli, wake up! Are you alright?"

Eli grimaced in pain and brought one hand to the back of his head. Just then he realized he was lying flat on his back, and the voice he was hearing belonged to TJ.

"My head is killing me but I'm fine, yes. I think. Ouch."

"Pounding?"

Eli's grimace was enough of an answer for the paramedic; TJ made him sit against one of the walls and checked his pupils and head, looking for sign of a concussion.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were in your quarters."

Eli gave a look around, felling slightly confused. Then, a second after, he remembered his dream. And a certain brown-haired girl that promised to do something for him.

"How are the others?" he asked.

Eli looked at the young woman; in the little time he'd known her, TJ never looked that relieved or happy as she was looking in that moment.

"They all woke up by themselves half an hour ago. They're all fine. No one could give me an explanation about what happened, though… Guess we'll never know. And hopefully, it won't happen again."

"Nah, she likes us now. Sort of."

"What are you talking about, Eli?"

"Destiny. That was her doing," he said, getting back on his feet. "Destiny wanted to give us a lesson because she didn't like us, but now she changed her mind. She showed me the ship!"

TJ decided not to say anything; everyone reported to have experienced weird, vivid dreams while they were unconscious. Even Rush, but his was more a case of hallucination than a real dream.

"You must've really had a very interesting dream, Eli… But it's hardly possible. Destiny might be a very advanced ship, but… it's just a ship."

"And I've watched too much sci-fi," said Eli, finishing TJ's thought. "Well, thanks for the reality check, TJ."

"Anytime. Do you need help to go back to your room?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Thanks for the help."

TJ nodded and disappeared behind a corner. Eli watched in that direction for a second, then he started walking towards his quarters. He just wanted to lie down and make the pain stop.

Eli threw himself on his bed, ignoring the weird déjà-vu feeling that just came to him, and he was finally ready to rest for a few hours when he felt a piece of paper cracking in his pocket. He read the few words and numbers he scribbled on it during his 'dream'– or better yet, Destiny made him scribble on it while he was under her control – and two seconds later he was already out of there, looking for Rush.

That was bound to become a very good day.


	2. Awakening, part one

_Destiny observes Eli and the scientists walk inside the bridge, and suddenly all her good propositions don't seem so good anymore. She closes her eyes and remembers Eli's words. Give us a chance, he said. We can become your crew, he promised. Destiny likes the boy enough to do what he suggested, but it's difficult to watch them touch everything, make theories and discuss how to make her systems work without feeling slightly violated._

_Rush didn't join them, though, and Destiny doesn't understand why. He's still working around the first console they discovered, reading logs and studying her course. She was sure he would've been the first to set foot in there, but apparently, or so Eli whispered to her when no one was looking, he was still paying the price for being a big caffeine and nicotine addict, and no one wanted to be around during one of his rage outbursts. _

_In a blink of an eye, Destiny is at the scientist's side. She observes the man working from the other side of the console, and curses his contorted mind. She can't read him the way she did the others, and that bothers her immensely. Destiny has to leave him, though, when she overhears the group of scientists in the control room discussing the navigation system and wondering why they couldn't access it like the others. Destiny comes back, and she silently observes the behavior of the people that should become her new crew. Eli cautiously tries to remember everyone that if Destiny didn't let them access to that part of her mainframe maybe she didn't want them to do it, but he gets ignored. The mirage of going back home blinds them; one of them – Volker – is already fantasizing about their comeback and how much exciting it will be to study every inch of the ship with the right equipment. They seem sure the ship it's going to be considered the greatest discovery since the unearthing of the Stargate on planet Earth. Eli doesn't say or does anything; he knows the damage has already been done._

_It takes less than five minutes for those scientists to start trying to override her codes and change the ship's course._

_It takes less than a second to her to shut everything down._

_Just in that moment the scientists seem to remember her presence there. They don't look sorry for failing her test, though. Destiny would love to give them a lesson again, but she promised Eli not to hurt them. She's really regretting her promise right now._

_But when they go back and tell Rush what happened, Destiny is the only one to see the smirk on the scientist's face. The smile of a man that knew all along something the others ignored._

_Destiny can't help but smile, too. _

_Her match, indeed._

* * *

When Eli went to sleep that night, he already knew he was going to see Destiny in his mind. She didn't look friendly at all, this time: she was sitting at the other side of his room, arms crossed and was staring at him with a serious look on her face. A look Eli last saw on his mother's face when he told her he dropped out of MIT. He unconsciously shivered.

"Wasn't it enough?"

"Destiny… I'm sorry."

"Because I thought that giving you full access to everything that could've made your life onboard more than comfortable could be considered enough. Silly, silly me."

"It's just… the navigation system, the stellar maps onscreen… You know I felt tempted too!"

"But you did _nothing_," retorted Destiny, sitting on the bed next to him.

"I was dreaming!"

"And yet you wrote down how to get there and how to unlock the door. The others were dreaming, Eli, you were there for real."

"I-I was?"

"Sleepwalking, remember? I should've known better."

"Destiny, please…"

"I can't trust your people!" Destiny shouted, and Eli sighed.

"But you trust me, right?"

"Apparently it's not enough."

"Are you going to give us another chance?"

"I don't know if I should."

"People makes mistakes. And if you could stop being so touchy for more than two seconds maybe we could make it work!"

"My house, my rules," retorted Destiny. "I didn't ask for you to come. I was perfectly fine on my own."

"But now we're here. And since we can't dial Earth we're going to stay here for a really long time."

"You're making me regret my previous solution to this problem…"

"Your prev… No! You said it was wrong and that you wouldn't do that again!"

Destiny laughed. "Relax, Eli. Just joking."

"…God! Has anyone ever told you you're a piece of work?"

An affectionate smile crossed Destiny's face for a second. "Someone has. Many, many years ago."

"Whoa. Stop right there. What was that? Spill the beans!"

"As your people would say, 'Not a chance in hell.' Same goes for the bridge and the core systems. Forget it. I won't allow anyone in there unless I'll be sure they won't access systems they shouldn't."

"And I guess I'm the lucky guy that will have to break the news to Rush and Young."

"Sorry for that. I do like you, Eli, really. But I've always had trust issues."

"How can a ship have trust issues?"

"That's a long story, I'll save it for another time. Good night, Eli," said Destiny, getting up and walking to the door, one second away from leaving Eli's head. Eli, though, was still busy analyzing what Destiny had just said.

"How is that even possible? You've always lived in the mainframe, right?"

Destiny gave Eli a confused look.

"I'm… not sure, Eli."

"You're not sure? What is that supposed to mean?"

" Two hundred years ago I was forced to pass through a star cluster at sub-light speed cause I couldn't get the FTL back online fast enough. The shield malfunctioned, radiations came through the breach and the mainframe got slightly damaged in the process. It might have damaged my memories, too."

"Should I tell Rush?"

"It's nothing serious. Just me… the ship's fine."

"I thought _you_ were the ship."

"I am."

"But you made it sound like you were two separate entities."

"Are we done with the third-degree already?"

"I'm curious! You're the first AI I met in my entire life, after all."

"And you are my friend, that's why I'm leaving you right now. I don't want to hurt you."

"You know, my last girlfriend told me exactly the same thing."

Destiny chuckled, and went out of the room – and Eli's mind.

"Goodnight, Destiny."

"Goodnight, Eli. Until next time."

* * *

_When Eli finds the courage to tell Young and Rush Destiny's decision, she's at his side. Young doesn't look pleased; he not-so-silently curses the Ancients and their brilliant idea of leaving a moody AI in charge of the ship. Rush, on the other hand, acted like the problem didn't concern him. He resumed working immediately after Eli finished talking, and doesn't look like he cares that much about the rest. He's trying – without much success - to put the liquid waste recycling system back online, and feeling suddenly generous, Destiny lets him do it. _

_For a second, he looks at the screen with genuine surprise in his eyes. Destiny knows he's wondering who did that - the man or the ship - but he doesn't say a word. _

_Eli looks like he has still something to say, but at the last second he changes his mind and leaves: he's been ordered to follow TJ – the doctor – and Scott – Young's second-in-command – during another exploration tour on the ship. Rush makes an acerbic joke at Eli's expenses about Destiny and what could've possibly showed him in his dreams last night, and Destiny feels the urge to punch the man in the face and make him lose a tooth or two. _

_But she never had hands…_

_Did she?_

* * *

"So, Eli. Where do we go now?" asked TJ, indicating the two corridors in front of them.

"Gimme a sec, I'll send the Kino to take a good look around for us," replied Eli, switching on the little camera and hitting a few key on the remote.

"No precious advice from Destiny this time, Eli?"

"Haha, Scott, so funny."

"You still see her in your dreams?" inquired TJ.

"Yeah. I think she just needs to get used to people again…"

"_It_, Eli," precised Scott. "It's not a girl, it's a _thing_."

"You saw her too, didn't you? She's _definitely_ a girl."

"I don't care how it chose to portray itself. It's not real."

"You know, I wouldn't keep talking about Destiny this way. She's very thin-skinned on this topic."

Scott chuckled. "I'm sorry, but we have bigger problems right now than an AI with mood swings. Can we talk about something else now?"

"You started it!"

"And now I want to end it."

Eli sighed and lifted his eyes to the ceiling, but didn't say another word. For a while the three just moved along the corridors in silence, and Eli used that time to think again of the last things Destiny told him. Destiny said her memories had been damaged, but on an unconscious level she seemed to consider herself a separate entity from the ship. What if she was?

Eli stopped in the middle of the corridor, and turned to go to the control room instead.

"Eli, what are you doing? Eli!" shouted Scott, watching his friend running away. He exchanged a look with TJ, and they both decided to follow Eli and whatever epiphany he was experiencing at the moment. But they began questioning his intuition when they found themselves in front of the sealed door of the control room.

Eli took a deep breath. "I swear we won't touch anything, Destiny. I just need to see if I'm wrong about something."

"Yeah," smirked Scott. "Like it would actually…"

The mocking expression on the young soldier's face quickly disappeared, though, when the door opened by itself.

"See? She likes me," Eli smiled smugly, and quickly entered the room, followed by the two soldiers.

"Ok," TJ said. "What exactly are we doing here?"

"Destiny showed me many places but this is the only one she wanted me to find."

"To put us to the test."

"Then why don't give us access to something less important but still valuable?" said Eli. "Destiny doesn't trust us, Scott, she said so. Then why risk everything to give us the keys of the kingdom?"

"Beats me. But I'm sure you have an idea, otherwise we wouldn't be here."

"She said something weird."

"That's it? We're here because the _ship_ told you something _weird_?"

"No, we're here because Destiny doesn't think of herself as the ship. When she told me the mainframe is slightly damaged…"

"What?"

"…nothing serious, by the way, I already checked… she also said that it wasn't the ship to be damaged, but herself. She corrected herself immediately, but still…"

"Eli, I'm not sure I understand," said TJ. "You're saying… what, exactly?"

"I could use a sci-fi reference, but I already know you two wouldn't get it."

"And of this we're both grateful," said Scott, earning a bad look from Eli. "Keep going, Math Boy."

"I think she wanted us here for a reason different than the one she told me. There must be something in this room she wants us to find."

"Something that an entire team of scientists couldn't find?" objected Scott. "Come on."

"They weren't looking hard enough. Listen, let's just search this place for anything that looks weird. If we don't find anything you're free to… " and Eli lowered his eyes, slightly embarrassed, "tell everybody."

"Oh, we will, Eli. We will."

Eli sighed, and began inspecting a console nearby. TJ moved near the walls, checking for secret panels, and after a couple seconds Scott joined her. He touched her on the shoulder to get her attention, and motioned her to talk under her breath.

"You don't really think we're going to find something… right?"

"Eli looks pretty sure about it," replied TJ, gently knocking against a surface. The sound made her frown slightly, but Scott didn't notice.

"Yeah, I get it. But what do _you_ think?"

TJ checked the surface again. It wasn't part of the wall, but it was designed to look like it was.

"I think I've found something," TJ said to Scott. "It's… a door, I think?"

"Eli! Over here, we got something!" shouted Scott, already trying to move the panel and see what was on the other side.

"What did you find?"

"It seems like a hidden panel… a hidden door maybe," explained TJ.

"Why don't you ask your girlfriend to open it for us?"

"Ok. A, she's not my girlfriend and b, I don't think she can. She would've done it already."

"Then start pushing. I think we can open it manually, with a little luck."

Eli joined the two soldiers and all together managed to move the thin metal door enough to create a tiny entrance. The room behind that door was completely dark, and they couldn't see much from where they were standing. TJ began to remove her vest, but Scott immediately stopped her.

"TJ, don't."

"Don't be stupid. You two are to big to fit in there. I'm the only one who can get inside."

"The only medic, too."

"Stop it. Door's just stuck. I'll open it from the inside."

"Anything looks weird, you come back here immediately."

TJ nodded, and after taking a deep breath, she carefully placed herself between the door and the wall, moving slowly.

"Careful, TJ."

"I'm almost done…" replied TJ, half of her body already disappeared inside the hidden room. A couple of steps later, she disappeared completely from Eli and Scott's sight.

"Ok, guys, I'm in," she said after an instant.

"TJ, where are you?" asked Eli.

"No idea, Eli. You can probably tell us once you get inside. "

"Ok, then let's make it happen. Can you see a panel at the side of the door?"

"Something like that, yes," replied the woman. She immediately tried and pushed a button, but nothing happened. TJ then tried again, this time hitting the tiny surface with her fist, and the door instantly opened.

"Cool!" squeed Eli. Scott immediately stepped aside, and the young man stepped inside the tiny room. The only thing he could see in the room, thanks to a lot of little, blinking blue lights, were machineries and caves hanging down from the ceiling and running loosely on the floor. Moving carefully, Eli reached for the only console in the room and pressed a few keys.

"Oh God."

"What, Eli?" asked Scott, watching his friend working from the room entrance.

"Guys… This is the mainframe. Destiny's brain… quite literally."

" I can think of a things or two I'd like to change in there…"

Both Eli and TJ glared at Scott.

"Do you have a death wish?"

"I've spent five hellish days dealing with people falling into coma because she wasn't happy with us. I'm not going to be the one to make her angry again."

Scott raised his hands in defeat. "Just saying. Anyway… if she doesn't want us to change the course of everything else, why bring us here?"

"Beats me," said TJ. "Eli?"

But Eli didn't hear her. He slowly walked to the only portion of the wall that wasn't occupied by computers and he touched it. It didn't feel like a metal panel. It was smooth like glass and icy cold. It was covered in dust, and Eli used the sleeve of his sweatshirt to clean it up.

He blinked, unable to believe to what he was seeing.

"Guys… I think I've found something too."

* * *

_Destiny is confused. That place is familiar, but at the same time she never saw it before. She looks at Eli cleaning the glass surface with his sleeve, and she doesn't get why all of sudden he looks so shocked. _Everyone_ is shocked, and Destiny doesn't understand what the fuss is all about. Everyone is trying to force the stasis chamber to open. There's something important in there, something she forgot…_

_Destiny looks at the limp body falling out of the pod that Lieutenant Scott immediately catches in his arms. She can't see her face, but she feels like she knows her. She has not been around since the very beginning, maybe, but for a very long time nevertheless. _

_The medic and the soldier takes her out of that tiny room and deposes her on the metal floor of a bigger room. That's the bridge, and Destiny remembers every detail of that place. She curses the star cluster and the malfunctioning FTL drive. She thought her memory loss wasn't that big, but now she's changed her mind. She wants her memory back… and somehow, it's all connected to the unconscious girl TJ is trying to revive in that very moment. It's not going to work, Destiny already knows that. She needs a specific procedure… but she can't remember which one._

_Then Eli comes out of that room with a small gray box and a syringe, and Destiny remembers. Adrenaline. She needs adrenaline injected straight into her heart, and after a second of incertitude TJ takes the syringe from Eli's hands and stabs her in the chest. She's not sure it's the right thing to do, but soon after resuming the chest compressions the body arches and the girl takes a deep intake of breath._

_And finally, Destiny remembers._


	3. Awakening, part two

_Destiny is trapped. She's breathing, her heart beats… This means she's finally out of the malfunctioning stasis chamber, but nothing more. She can't move a muscle, she can't talk, and all she can hear are muffled and intelligible sounds. Destiny knows her condition is going to be over soon – the nanites in her bloodstream has begun repairing all the internal damages the moment her heart has started beating again – but this doesn't help. The searing pain she's feeling in her limbs it's unbearable. She's almost glad she can't produce a sound, otherwise she would be screaming at the top of her lungs and scare the hell out of everyone on the ship._

_It's only after a long time that she finally manages to open her eyes, but she can't see a thing. Her eyes are blind, but she can feel something near the right arm. Destiny moves her fingers, and immediately a hand clutches them tightly. Eli, Destiny assumes. Who else? Destiny ignores the pain and tries to concentrate on the voices around her, that now are starting to become clearer and clearer. Her eyes are starting to work again too… she can see light and shadows, it's only a matter of seconds before she will be able to see everything else. _

_Destiny can't wait for that moment but, at the same time, she's terrified. She's been pure conscience for the last three hundred years of her life, and she's not sure she will be able to handle her new situation with the necessary grace and composure. _

_She'll just have to wait._

_And hope._

* * *

"Destiny? Destiny can you hear me? Please, say something…" said Eli, clutching her hand tighter. The young man exchanged a look with TJ and Scott, but neither of them thought the woman in front of them could hear or see them. Her eyes were pearly white, and she didn't seem able to hear Eli and his several pleas. She was breathing, and her heartbeat was strong, but it looked more and more likely, as Scott put it, that the lights were on but there was no one in there.

"Or maybe she just need time!" retorted Eli. "That stasis thing obviously didn't work properly, who knows what it did to her!"

"That's why we should take her to the infirmary. I can do nothing here. We just identified a machine that should work like the medical scanner on Atlantis, it might give us a better idea of her condition."

"You do that," said Scott. "I'll radio colonel Young about this new… development, now. We'll need help to take it…" and he heavily sighed after Eli shot him a dirty look, "sorry, to take _her_ to the infirmary."

TJ nodded, and Scott got up on his feet. A moment later, though, before he could call his superior, Eli began shouting all excited.

"Oh my God, look at her eyes! TJ, Scott, look!"

Scott came closer and bent over Destiny's face, unable to believe to what he was seeing. Her eyes were changing color in front of him, going from white to deep brown in a matter of seconds.

"No way. Are her eyes…?"

"…repairing themselves? I think they are," replied TJ, with the same bewildered voice.

Destiny blinked a couple of times, then she began looking around her and gave Eli a weak smile.

"Hey there," he said. "Welcome back. Don't worry, Destiny, we're going to take good care of you."

* * *

_Destiny is finally able to use her eyes again, and the pain in her body is slightly diminishing. Breathing is not a torture anymore, and even her hearing is back to normal. She manages to move a finger of her right hand, and she's quite sure she has also moved a foot. Eli is smiling encouragingly at her, he tells her she's doing really good and that she can't give up now. Clutching Eli's hand tighter and giving the boy a proper smile is still a little tiring, but Destiny does it regardless. Eli has been loyal to her. A friend, even. If this can make him happy, she'll do it._

_Destiny's voice unfortunately starts to come back when Eli and Scott try to carry her to the infirmary. The pain is still there, and she can't hide it any longer. She hears TJ talk about the medical scanner they've just discovered, but she probably doesn't know yet the complete procedure to put it online and use it. Destiny is not worried, though. She knows what to do, and now that she can feel her legs again she will program the scanner herself. Not the first time she had to use it, and Tamra, the chief medical officer of her original crew, made sure to train her well before her untimely death._

_Once she's deposed on one of the infirmary beds, TJ checks her eyes and blood pressure. Scott is informing Young of what happened, and he takes Eli with him so to have someone to answer eventual technical questions about the unexpected discovery they made. After a moment, TJ decides to go with them and to leave her rest. Destiny sighs relieved, and she rolls on her side, ready to get up and reach the scanner. Her legs are not used to support her weight, though, and she falls on the floor like a ragdoll. Destiny curses silently, and she uses the bed as support to get back on her feet. Once she's found a balance, she slowly moves towards the scanner, and presses a few keys on the console. The machine goes back to life, and after that it takes just a few minutes to get through with the exam and to place her hands on the flat surface in the middle of the console, thus downloading the information and instructing the nanites to go where they're needed the most - in her joints, vocal chords and spinal cord._

_The pain subsides and disappears completely in just a few minutes, and Destiny cannot even describe how good it feels to be finally able to move and speak again. She's finally back to her old self… and this also means that all her duties and obligations are back as well. She already knows the ship is not in a good shape because in the last three centuries there was no one around to do maintenance, but in order to get a clearer picture of the situation she needs to access the mainframe and see for herself. _

_It can wait, though. There are a few people Destiny can't wait to meet again… and like the first time, they won't probably like the experience._

* * *

Young and Rush exchanged two identical perplexed looks.

"If I've understood correctly… you three are saying that the ship's AI has a _body_," he slowly said.

"Exactly," nodded Eli.

"It does, sir," replied Scott.

"She's in the infirmary right now," added TJ. "She needs medical attention. Actually, I need to go right now…"

"In a second," said Rush. "You just defined her as a 'she'?"

TJ exchanged a brief look with Scott and Eli, and then she looked straight at the scientist. "Sir, she has an heartbeat, she breathes, and she's currently in pain. She's a person to me."

"It's probably just a very sophisticated machine designed to mimic the human behavior," replied Rush. "Nothing more."

"That's because she didn't take a stroll inside your mind, Rush," objected the Colonel. "She looked very much alive to me."

"Alive is not the term I'd use to define an artificial intelligence."

Eli sighed. "Destiny doesn't exactly like to be defined that way."

Rush looked at Eli with an amused expression on his face. "Oh really? Well, I'm not going to refer to it as _she_, Eli. It's just a part of this ship's software."

"_It _can hear you, Doctor Rush."

Startled by the voice almost everyone in that room has heard only in their minds, they all turned to the door. Destiny was standing right on the entrance, and she perfectly knew her aspect was far from perfect. Her hair were tangled and messy, and she was paler than a ghost, with cracked lips and bluish circles under her eyes. Her uniform too had definitely seen better days, it looked worn and stained. Destiny knew everyone was thinking she looked like some sort of weird, savage creature that didn't belong there... How wrong they are, she thought. Destiny smiled to Eli, and slowly walked inside the room, until she was standing exactly in front of Rush.

"We've never been properly introduced," she said to the scientist. "I'm Destiny."

Rush tried to keep his surprise under control. That was the girl he had been hallucinating while everyone else was falling into a coma. He thought it was just a trick of his imagination, something triggered by stress, lack of caffeine and sleep deprivation.

Apparently not.

"I've seen you before."

"Not in your dreams, I'm afraid," replied Destiny, feigning displeasure and trying not to grin when she saw Rush's reaction. The scientist firmly believed he had been chosen to come aboard that ship, that unlocking his secrets was his destiny. And Destiny knew he didn't take well the truth, that Eli – Eli! – of all people onboard had been granted the honor to talk to her while he didn't even see her in his mind for more than a couple of seconds.

"You look better," said TJ, completely surprised by the sudden change in Destiny's physical conditions.

"I heal fast," replied the woman, without taking her eyes off Rush's face.

"Good. Now that I'm finally able to express myself… What the hell are you doing on my ship?"

"Excuse me?" said Young.

"You heard me, Colonel. The ship is _mine_. And now that I can finally talk for myself, I really, really want to know what in the name of the Ancestors possessed _you_," and looked straight at Rush with a look that could kill, "to dial the ninth chevron during an emergency evacuation. I did some crazy things myself in my life, but this is pure madness."

"We needed a safe haven," was Rush's answer. "We found it."

"So you're basically telling me you've done everyone a big favor by doing this. Interesting. But let me tell you something… you didn't! Not to _me_, anyway. I was perfectly fine on my own before you had this brilliant idea."

"Destiny…" began Eli, but a death glare of the woman reduced the young man to silence. She tried to stay calm, but just looking at that man was bringing up the worst in her. Destiny knew it probably depended by the fact she wasn't used anymore to the downside of having a human body – amplified emotions and freaking _hormones_ – but that knowledge wasn't helping her right now. She needed to take it all out, right there and then, and to hell with everything and everyone else.

"From what _I_ understand," replied Rush, as ready to fight as Destiny, "You were trapped in a stasis chamber. You would still be there if we never showed up here. You should thank _us_ for your freedom."

Destiny chuckled. "Keep waiting. I'm _done_ following orders. That reminds me… Colonel Young? You're officially in charge of this… people, if I understand correctly? The ship as well?"

"Yes," replied Young, already fearing where that conversation would go.

"Then listen carefully: I don't recognize your authority. You're not my captain, these people are not my crew. My chain of command begins and ends with me. I won't put your crew in jeopardy…"

"Bit rich coming from the same entity that put them in mortal danger in the first place," retorted Rush, but Destiny ignored him and kept talking.

"… and I will provide to your basic needs as I've been doing since your arrival here. But my course will not change: my mission is to follow my sisters' path and to activate the Stargates they seeded in the uncharted territories and explore the uncharted territories. I move _onward_, not the other way around."

"You just don't care," said Rush, and Destiny clenched her fists.

"Not really. Neither do _you_. So please… don't you dare taking the moral high ground when you're talking to me, _Doctor_," she hissed.

"Your mission is over, Destiny," Young quietly said. "The Ancients won't come here anymore. They died, or ascended thousand of years ago."

"As part of my crew and my captain did. And until one of them – or any ascended Ancient, for that matter – takes a break from ascension, comes down here and tells me I have to listen to you… it's not going to happen. Don't make me angry, don't put your noses where they don't belong, and I'm sure we'll be fine. And now, if you'll excuse me, I've three hundred years of overdue maintenance to carry out."

Without waiting for an answer, Destiny turned and walked out of the room. A second later, she heard Eli screaming her name and running after her.

"Destiny! Dee, wait!"

Destiny sighed. "Eli, I wasn't lying. I really have a billion things to do."

"What happened in there?"

"I got a couple things off my chest."

"Just a couple? What happened to the 'give this people a second chance' thing?"

"Like I said, I will provide to your needs and keep you alive and well. Did I forget something?"

"Just to crack the whip."

"Good. Exactly what I went for," said Destiny with a satisfied smile. Eli felt the sudden urge to bash his head against a wall.

"I don't get it. Why do you want them to hate you?"

Destiny stopped, and stared at Eli for a long instant before resuming walking. She shouted at Eli not to follow her, and she disappeared behind a door Eli couldn't open. He sighed, looking at the door with a sad look in his eyes, and after a while he turned and went back to Rush and the others.

* * *

_Destiny hears Eli walking away, and she slowly slides to the floor, her head resting against the bulkhead. She slowly puts one hand on her neck, and her eyes close tightly when she feels a thin gold chain. Destiny takes off the necklace, and stares for a long moment at the penchant in her hand – a four-pointed silver star with little golden rays irradiating from the center of the jewel, a light blue stone. It was Janek's, the highest decoration a captain and his crew could ever receive. She wasn't entitled to receive one, so Janek decided she had to be the one to wear his, because without her he wouldn't be able to accomplish any of the things he did. It would've been a constant remainder of how important she was to her crew – her family._

Why do you want them to hate you?

_A tear slowly rolls down Destiny's cheek. Her crew is gone forever, she knows that. But being circled again by living, breathing people is too much a painful reminder of what she's lost. Eli seems convinced his people can become her new crew, and for a moment Destiny really believed in his dream. But Destiny swore to herself long time ago she will never suffer again like she did when she lost her crew – her family. _

_Living forever… her talent and her curse. To Destiny it doesn't matter if it's been a year or a thousand since that day. The wound in her heart is still there._

_And now, it's bleeding again._


	4. Delirium

_Destiny looks at the ship's engines and feels satisfied and worried at the same time: the ship's moving almost at the speed of light but Destiny remembers that there was a time when the ship could move much faster than that._

_Destiny grimaced and sighed, allowing sadness and nostalgia for the ship's glorious past as flagship of the Ancient fleet to take over her mind for a couple of seconds before pushing those feelings away. The FTL engines stopped working a long, long time ago and she can't do a thing about it because the spare parts she loaded before leaving the Milky Way are long gone. End of story. Of course, she will never tell Young and the others that. She loves to make them believe it's her decision not to go back to Earth and not just an engine problem._

_After sh__e'd introduced herself to Young, Rush, Scott and TJ, Destiny took the time to introduce herself to the others. Now, she is universally known as the cold-hearted bitch that refuses to help them go back home. With the exception of a few death glares from those people when they think she's not looking, it's like she is alone on the ship. She ignores them, and they do their best to ignore her as well. As for Doctor Rush, well, it's like he never met her face to face and remains generally rather unpleasant to deal with. _

'_Oh, to hell with that,' she says to herself, she has no time to waste thinking about Rush and the other intruders._

_But Destiny can't lie to herself: she's tired. It took her a month of work to restore the engines, and she has barely slept more than two hours a day since her awakening. She knows she shouldn't work so hard but she also knows her list of things to do won't become any shorter just because she wishes it. And it gives her the perfect excuse to avoid the crew. Greer, especially. When Destiny met him, he made sure to let her know how angry he was at her for her refusal to help them. It didn't help she gave him a lesson in front of his comrades, plus a bunch of civilians. Eli had warned her to stay away from him, that the sergeant was out for revenge, and she had almost burst into laughter. She is the personification a decommissioned warship; fighting is what she does best. Probably the only thing she has in common with the Master Sergeant, but again… she won't say a word._

_Eli is still her favorite, but Destiny can't honestly tell if the math genius knows he's going to estrange himself from the crew if he keeps looking for her company. Or maybe he does and doesn't care._

_Destiny touched her forehead, and then pressed it against the nearest bulkhead, enjoying the coolness against her hot skin. __Fever, how nice. Destiny never gets ill, thanks to the nanites in her blood that works as an enhanced immune system. But when she does, it means it's serious and there's very little she can do about it: she just needs to stop and take a break for a day or two. And she would love to do it however wishful thinking won't help with her to-do list. And she's not feeling that bad, all things considered._

_Destiny __knows all the symptoms. Exhaustion and fever are just the first two; the third and most serious one is still missing. She still has time._

* * *

Eli peered inside the observation deck and then he quickly moved inside when he saw no one was there. Destiny wasn't that far away, and he hoped she would join him there before she killed someone, namely Doctor Rush. He wasn't present when Destiny stormed in the Gate Room and punched Rush in the face but Scott told him it was quite the show. Destiny had a wound in her left arm and had shouted at the scientist that it was entirely his fault, as his trial-and-error approach to the mainframe had caused a power surge in the area where she was doing maintenance and that she had told Eli to warn him of that. Rush, of course, denied being aware of her warnings, which was a lie, because Eli had cautioned him. Or Rush hadn't really paid attention. Either way, it had led to a huge fight, and the shouting between the two of them became so loud even Eli had heard it, and he'd been at his computer running simulations for Young, almost at the opposite side of the ship. He'd gotten there just in time to see Destiny storming out of the room. They exchanged the briefest of looks but it was enough to make Eli frown. Sure, Destiny clearly looked and sounded like her usual bitchy self, but something was off. It was an overreaction, even for her, and he planned on asking what exactly was wrong when, if, she joined him in there. The observation deck was their favorite place, and he knew she saw him come in here, so hopefully it was just a matter of minutes.

"Five minutes, Eli," Destiny said, still annoyed and with the eyes fixed on her portable touchscreen, "I'm busy and I'm hurting."

"Yeah. Dee, are you ok?"

Eli's worried tone made Destiny raise her eyes and give the young man a puzzled look.

"I am. Why are you so worried?"

"You were, well… kind of scary earlier."

Destiny laughed and her head began to pound. Ignoring the pain, she replied, "I'm sorry for frightening you, as for Rush he had it coming. Why he's so convinced he knows the ship better than I do, I'll never understand!"

"We know that, Destiny…"

"You _do_? Well, then I'd like him to keep it in mind!"

"Whoa, calm down! Not the enemy here!"

Destiny sighed and let herself fall onto the stuffed bench, hiding her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry, Eli, I didn't mean to snap, I'm just so tired…"

"I've noticed. Maybe you should take the day off, relax a little."

"Too much work to do, I can't."

"Come on. It's not like anyone is keeping tabs on what you do. You disappear for a couple of days, they'll think you're in the engine room or somewhere else in the belly of the beast."

"Hey! Be respectful. This old lady _deserves_ it."

"Old lady, huh?" chuckled Eli, ready to make a joke about her age, but a glare from Destiny reduced him to silence.

"It's my duty to keep the ship from falling apart and it's not like I did a good job."

"Please, how could you have foreseen the stasis pod's malfunction?"

"It's not just that. My sister Aurora would have found a way to repair the FTL with a metal spoon and a shoestring. She was one hell of an engineer. Put me on a battlefield and I'm fine. Ask me some creative thinking and I _might_ have a little problem with that," she said, removing the gray jacket she was wearing. Another of her captain's ideas if she was truly going to be one of his crew, then she had to look like one of them, regular clothes included. She was actually grateful for that, these clothes were way more comfortable than her leather uniform.

"Is it me or it's really hot in here?" said Destiny, fanning herself with her hand.

"Not exactly, no, are you feeling okay?" asked Eli, trying to touch her bare shoulder. Destiny jerked away and got up.

"I'm fine! Back off. Nanites heal everything, remember?"

But her optimism soon wore off when she saw her old and deceased friends Tamra and Prya at Eli's side for a couple of seconds. Great. Hallucinations were the last symptom, the one Destiny was waiting for. Now she had no excuses. She had to stop.

"Eli?" she said, knowing she sounded odd, "I'm going to take a couple of days off. Just don't say a word to the others, ok? Especially that I looked tired or ill."

"Maybe TJ can help?"

"No, she can't. I just need to sleep and stay alone. Really, Eli it's not big deal," she lied, hoping he would believe her. Of course it was a big deal. The last time that happened, the hallucinations grew so strong and powerful she convinced herself she was still under her first captain's command - a horrible, cruel man named Haldran - and she almost killed her captain. Luckily, Janek managed to subdue her and drag her kicking and screaming to the infirmary, where she was tied down to a bed and given enough sedatives to kill a horse.

When she woke up, two days later, she promised herself that something like that would never, under any circumstance, happen again, and if it did she would do anything in her power not to be a danger to the people on board. She wasn't on friendly terms with any of them except Eli and maybe TJ (she offered to cure the burns and cuts on her arm, after all), but she promised Eli that she would never hurt or try to kill them again, she just wanted to keep her promise.

Destiny began walking faster and faster towards her quarters; before she was halfway, though, her hallucinations became worse. She started to run, trying to ignore what she was seeing and hearing in her head. She had to hurry: once she was on the other side of the bulkhead she could let her mind take over, but not sooner.

Destiny never felt more grateful in her life than when she reached that metal door. Her body was giving in, it was just a matter of minutes before fever and hallucinations would take over but the door didn't open. Destiny tried to force it open, but she was too weak to do it. Her knees bent under her weight and she felt herself falling on the floor right in front of the now open door.

Destiny closed her eyes, exhausted, and a second later the darkness engulfed her.

* * *

_When Destiny regains consciousness she__'s not sure of what happened. She remembered fainting in the corridor but she's not in the corridor anymore. She's in her room and nothing looks like the way it should. Everything in there is pristine, new, like it was when the ship left the Milky Way so long ago. And she doesn't feel sick at all. Just a little tired. She has a fever right? _

_Destiny hears a little noise in the room and she sits on the bed to see who is there. Her heart skips a beat when she sees him and she can feel tears in her eyes. Destiny blames that overemotional reaction on the awful nightmare she just had. Everything is fine, the crew is fine. He is fine._

_Her friend, brother and captain._

"_Janek", she whispers, and before she knows it Destiny gets up from the bed and hugs him. She can't believe how much that dream upset her but now it's over. Janek is surprised by her reaction but he hugs her back. He asks her how she's feeling; Destiny smiles, and tells him everything about that absurd nightmare. About the plague a part of the crew caught on a planet during a recon mission that killed them and many others onboard. About the meteor shower that damaged the part of the ship where they were now, asphyxiating sixteen more crewmembers - the only other survivors. She tells him about the outpost they built for their lost friends. Finally she tells him of his death and ascension, and her travels among the stars on her own, and the arrival of those people that pretended to be her new crew. _

_She laughs at her naïveté: what else could it be if not a dream?_

_Jane__k smiles to her and convinces her to go back to bed. Apparently she does have a fever but nothing to worry about. Destiny asks why the ship's doctor, Tamra, is not there, and Janek says she's busy tending to Prya – nothing serious, their resident genius just tried another of her weird experiments and the lab almost exploded, as usual. They exchange a laugh at Prya's expenses and agree to give the young girl a proper dress-down once Destiny is feeling better._

_Janek is going away, and Destiny feels the irrational fear of not being able to see him again. She__'ll apologize later – this was something they both agreed didn't have to happen ever again – but she can't help herself, She steps closer to Janek taking his face in her hands and her lips gently brush his for a second._

"_I missed you," she whispers and all of sudden she feels burning from the inside out again. _

_Janek catches her before she falls__, helping her lay down on the bed, a moment later she feels something wet and icy on her forehead and eyes; she would love to say thanks but she can bring herself to move her lips, it's too tiring. She's just grateful he's there with her and that this time he's not leaving._

_It's more than enough for __Destiny to fall asleep with a smile on her face._

* * *

Rush watched the girl turn on her side in her sleep and wondered for the millionth time what the hell had just happened. He had found Destiny unconscious and clearly sick in one of the ship's corridors in front of the open door to her self-appointed quarters, the place not even Eli was allowed into. He realized that this was his best chance to explore that place without any interference from the annoying AI but he also couldn't ignore the ailing creature at his feet so he dragged her in and closed the metal door behind them.

Then Rush took a good look at the place and he realized why Destiny wanted to keep it to herself. Something bad must have happened in here: the walls and ceiling had been repaired but it looked like they had been heavily damaged. Broken even. And on the floors he could still see books, a torn necklace and other things that clearly belonged to the crew. The thing that amazed him the most? A ragdoll and what looked like children's drawings. _Children_?

Destiny's delirious ramblings interrupted his musings though, and he had to take her into her quarters to get her on the bed and decide what to do. Destiny couldn't stop talking about a girl named Prya, a young scientist that sounded a lot like Eli, Tamra, the ship's doctor and someone she was obviously very close to and her captain, Janek. But he would've never imagined Destiny would mistake him for Janek to the point of kissing him.

'_I bet that's one hell of an interesting story to tell_,' he thought.

Rush had done his best not to consider her a real person but now - now it was different. There was a part of her that allowed her to interface with the ship – that was undeniable. But he couldn't consider Destiny a machine anymore. Like him, Destiny knew what it was like to love and then lose the ones you love.

They were too much alike to get along with each other, Rush concluded. They were both survivors in their own way but with one thing in common after all: this ship was all they had left. Their reason to live. This part of her he could truly understand.

'_Rest, Destiny. Your secret is safe.'_

Rush left her room and locked the door so that no one could get in without her permission. Destiny would've probably done the same if she had made it there in time.

And if anyone asked him where the hell he disappeared for an entire day, Rush gave them a seraphic smile and no explanation at all.


	5. Remembrance, part one

**Hello! Sorry for the long delay, but both my beta and I had some real-life issues to deal with. Thanks for the reviews, and I hope you'll like it!**

* * *

Destiny woke up a couple of days after she had fallen ill and felt more confused than ever. She thought she had fainted just outside her quarters, but apparently she made it inside even if she had no memory of that. And the hallucinations – or at least the parts she remembered – were all centered on her crew and her captain, a big relief all things considered. Just another painful path down memory lane, nothing she wasn't already used to.

But there was also something else, something she knew was very important but that she couldn't remember. The hallucinations were very different from the others - more real, for certain aspects. The question was… why? What was different this time? Destiny sighed and chased away that thought. The break was over; it was time to get back to work.

"Hey there, Destiny!" Eli cheerily exclaimed, interrupting her reflections, "Feeling better?"

Destiny was about to reply, when she felt the smile vanish from her face and her blood freeze.

Now she knew what was off about her hallucinations.

Maybe they weren't hallucinations to begin with.

Grabbing Eli by his arm and ignoring his protests, Destiny dragged him into an empty room and locked the door behind them.

"Ok, um…what the hell?" asked the young man, slightly peeved by the rude treatment.

"Eli, tell me exactly what happened when I was sick."

Eli frowned, puzzled, but answered, "Well, Rush discovered a Chair in one of the labs, and…"

"To hell with that! I meant, what happened to me!"

"To you?" Eli frowned, wondering what could've happened to make Destiny behave like that. "What do you mean?"

"Eli, we're friends. Don't lie to me. You were the only one who knew I wasn't feeling well."

"And I haven't told a soul," replied Eli, now unsure of where that conversation was headed.

"And that's what I feared. Eli? I have a really weird question for you."

Eli shrugged. "Shoot," he said, and Destiny sighed, trying not to feel more embarrassed than she already did.

"Did I, by any chance… kiss you? In my quarters?"

Eli eyes widened, completely caught off guard by her question, "WHAT? Dee… are you still sick? Delirious? Or high on something?"

"I take that as a no, then…" murmured Destiny.

"Well… Yeah! Why the absurd question, Dee?"

"Because I never made it to my quarters. I fainted just outside the bulkhead. But I woke up inside my quarters, in my bed. I was in no condition to move, so someone must've taken me there."

"But you don't remember, you could've woken up, gotten inside, and lost consciousness again," said Eli, tried to reason with her friend.

"When I get sick like that, my mind gets really clouded, at best, so that's not really possible."

"But it still could've happened that way," insisted Eli.

"I can't tell," conceded Destiny, "but it's very unlikely."

"Dee, I don't want to be brutal, but it's not like someone here would lift a finger to help you. People here hate you more than Rush and the guy lied to our faces and faked an Icarus-type planet in the database, for crying out loud."

"Oh. Thanks, I get the idea. So, you're suggesting I sort of sleepwalked and just dreamed the whole thing?"

"Seems the simplest explanation to me…"

"…and the simplest explanation is usually the right one. Logic. I should know a thing or two about logic, considering who I am…"

Suddenly, Destiny grasped her head cringing in pain.

"Destiny? Dee?"

"I'm fine, Eli. Just a migraine. Don't worry, it'll go away."

"What do you need? Water? Painkillers? I'm sure TJ can give you something."

Destiny was in too much in pain to really understand the meaning of Eli's words. She just thought the combination of TJ, water and painkillers sounded like a really nice idea. She didn't exactly realize that in order to get that she would have to get through the mess hall when almost everyone was there eating mashed alien potatoes with really disgusted expressions on their faces. Everyone stared at her as she simply sat at a table, opposite Eli, doing her best to ignore them. Eli got up to get some food but he didn't miss the dubious look Becker shot him when he asked for two rations instead of one.

"She eats, too," he said quietly. The young soldier gave a look towards Destiny who once again was holding her head in her hands and nodded giving Eli two bowls of food.

"Thanks!" Eli said brightly and walked back to his table feeling the eyes of everyone burning holes in his back. Destiny watched Eli push one of the bowls in her direction and after a little hesitation she decided to try it.

"Disgusting," whispered Destiny, trying not to throw up. "What are you trying to do, Eli?"

"Eat the stuff without spitting it out," he said, with the most innocent expression on his face. "Same as you."

"Whoever told you you're a good liar? Well, they lied."

"You can't stay on your own forever. We have to find a way for you to get along with the others."

Destiny bit her lip and took a deep breath. The food was actually worsening her condition and in a few minutes she wouldn't be able to dissimulate the pain. It was too agonizing to be an ordinary migraine but Destiny refused to give into it, she was still stronger than _Him_, she could keep everything under control.

"Tell whoever is doing the cooking that there are huge cans full of a white, salt-like powder in the kitchen, one deck down. It will correct the flavor, at least a little, and make it better."

"Really?"

"My friend Prya had a really low tolerance for food that didn't taste good and she was a genius much like you. Her solution was highly appreciated by everyone, believe me," whispered Destiny through gritted teeth, keeping her eyes closed. Light was becoming an issue now too.

She had to get away.

"I will not do it. Understood? So stop harassing me," she hissed, getting on her feet and walking to the door.

"What? Destiny, what's wrong?"

Destiny ignored Eli and moved faster, but it was already too late. Destiny brought both hands to the sides of her head and began screaming in pain.

_Destiny._

"Go to hell!"

_You can't win this one._

"You're wrong!"

_Let me speak with Young._

"No!"

_I don't want to hurt you. But I will, if you don't stop being so stubborn._

Another wave of pain flooded her and Destiny lost track of everything around her.

* * *

_When the pain stops, Destiny finally realizes she's lying in fetal position on the floor__ with everyone is standing around her unsure of what to say or do next. Little do they know that Destiny is having the same problem. _

_She unconsciously licks her lips and she suddenly understands why Eli, TJ and a few others are watching her worriedly. She touches her lips and nose and tries not to flinch when her fingers come away covered in blood._

_Destiny can't believe it. He really did it. He knows her brain is the only thing nanites can't__ repair properly and he made sure she remembered that tiny little detail._

"_You won," she whispers, and she gets back on her feet, refusing Eli's help. Her face is still stained with blood but she doesn't care at the moment. She walks until she is right in front of Rush and Young and wonders how she will be able to talk without choking on her own anger. She tried her best to avoid this moment since they came onboard but apparently she can't do it any longer. Destiny values her brain and knowledge more than her pride. The latter can heal after all._

"_I understand you discovered a Chair," she says, "Congratulations, Colonel. You're going to be the first one to sit in there. He wants a word with you."_

"_What are you talking about? Who's he?" asks Young._

"_So you know how the Chair works, I presume," says Rush, at the same time. _

_Destiny answer__ed the scientist sharply, annoyed with the question, "Of course I know how it works. Not that you could understand it on your own, anyway. It needs too many codes to work properly. Forget one and your head is forfeit. Long story. Shall we?" Destiny says dismissing Rush and looking at Young. _

_The Colonel doesn't want to come, she can tell__ but frankly she's not above dragging him there, "I value my life, Colonel and I was very close to saying goodbye to my brain functions a few moments ago, so, I'm asking you, please, would you follow me?"_

_Young's eyebrows rise in silent taunt at Destiny's use of the word 'please' and seeming humility and Destiny has to restrain herself from punching him, but he follows without another word. Rush on the other hand is doing his best to hide his excitement but the slightly maniacal light in his eyes doesn't match the impassible expression he's trying to keep. _

_Someone is going to sit in the Chair. _

_He's finally going to see how the Chair works. _

_She can almost see the wheels turning in his mind: he doesn't care if he has to trust her or if the procedure might be a risk to the Colonel's life. He just wants to see it happen and he wants it now, judging by his words and actions. _

_The three of them walk __to the lab in perfect silence but once inside Rush immediately bombards Destiny with questions. Why does the Chair need all of those codes to work? What is its purpose? Is it dangerous? Destiny feels no pain anymore – he's happy with her at the moment – so she decides to go ahead and give the two men a little history lesson._

"_This ship was a warship at the beginning of its life, the flagship of the Ancient fleet and when you travel with a thing like this onboard you have to be very careful not to let it fall into the wrong hands. Without all the ship's master codes whoever sits in there gets his brain turned to mush. It's a defense mechanism. This chair also allows access to a huge part of the mainframe. That's where the other two codes kick in they grant access to - another place. Where he'll be waiting for us."_

"_Who is this person you're talking about?" asked Young_

"_You wouldn't believe me if I said his name," she replied hitting an endless stream of keys on the keyboard._

"_Try me."_

"_Remember when I said that someone had to come here and order me to listen to you? I should've remembered to keep my mouth shut," Destiny answered turning to look at the Colonel. She knows she's showing how nervous she is, how frightened, even. Destiny has a really bad feeling about this meeting but she can do nothing to avoid it. She motions to the Colonel to sit in the Chair and tells him to relax and close his eyes, warily he does and moments later Young falls in what looks like a deep sleep. _

_Destiny __watches Rush as he circles the Chair in fascination, he's not even bothering to hide his feeling anymore and he's probably already thinking of all the things he can see, all the things he can do once he sits in that Chair too. _

_He probably thinks this is the best day of his life or at least damn close._

_Destiny will never let that happen. _

_There's another failsafe, one she didn't tell Young or Rush about – the codes have to be reentered after every session because the system doesn't memorize them – and as soon as He is done with Young the Chair will revert to its default settings. _

_Destiny takes a deep breath and finally touches the Chair. She can't help herself and taunts Rush a little, telling him that her people could interface with the Chair just by touching it, thanks to a specific Ancient gene. She doesn't say it aloud but she's hinting he doesn't have that ability, even if he would love to._

_She grins and without waiting for Rush's reaction she connects herself to the mainframe and joins Young._

_Destiny hopes she will keep smiling even after the meeting is over._

* * *

Rush looked at Destiny, deep in the same sleep-like state as Young and felt a sudden wave of hate towards her; that wasn't the first time she hinted that he didn't have what it took to truly understand the ship, and Rush couldn't wait to find a way to prove her wrong.

And if his attempt didn't work, well no one – including Destiny – would know the truth. He never got tested for the ATA gene, mostly because his interest in Atlantis was only marginal and had no desire at all to work with Rodney McKay.

'Well,' he said to himself as he placed his hand next to Destiny's and closed his eyes, 'This is the right time to find out.'

It took less than a heartbeat for Rush to leave his reality and appear in what looked like a perfect representation of Atlantis. Destiny and Young were in the Gate Room, in front of the Stargate, and Rush immediately hid behind a pillar before they could see him. Like him, Young must've thought it was a little weird to be in that place, because Destiny was explaining to him the reason why it looked that way.

"This part of the mainframe was used by the crew for recreational purposes, a little bit of therapy even. This was my captain's gift to me. My space was a blank slate because I had no idea of what my youngest sister looked like but he saw the plans before leaving Earth and created this for me."

"Youngest sister?"

"Yes, though Atlantis doesn't have a proper AI she's conscious on some level, she must be. She was too advanced not to be controlled by an artificial intelligence of some sort even if she can't express herself."

"This is all very interesting, Destiny, but who are we going to meet here? I think you can tell me now. Things can't get any crazier."

"Oh, they can. We're going to meet my captain. Janek."

Both Rush and Young frowned, "Excuse me?"

"There was an accident onboard, a couple years after we left Earth. Janek and I were on a planet, we got hurt and my nanites ended up in his bloodstream. They prolonged his life but they also had an unexpected collateral effect."

"What kind of collateral effect?" he asked, trying to sound in control and not intimidated by what was happening.

"After his ascension I found an echo of him in the mainframe. He's still my captain, in every aspect and he wants to talk with you. He'll be here any second now."

Destiny talked about that situation like it was the most natural thing in the world, but Young didn't share her calm. For the umpteenth time he tried again to piece every bit of information together, but it wasn't easy. Nothing really made sense to him, and he was still trying to wrap his head around what was going to happen.

"I don't understand," he said after a while. "You said your captain ordered you to take me here. How did he do this? This place was sealed, and it looked like it hadn't been used in years."

"Centuries, to be exact. I don't need the Chair to interface with the ship's systems," explained Destiny, and something clicked in the colonel's mind.

"He's the one that gave you the migraine."

Destiny nodded. "I've systematically disobeyed him since you came onboard. But I had my reasons."

"And I'd love to hear them," said a dark-haired man around Rush's age in a white uniform who'd just appeared on the stairs, "All of them."

Destiny immediately straightened up and put her arms behind her back, "Captain."

"As you were, Destiny. We're millennia past that stuff, anyway," said Janek, coming down the stairs.

"Exactly. Oh and thanks for the headache. I wish I could kill you."

Young observed Janek smile, almost amused by her disrespectful remark. "I only asked to speak with Young, Destiny. It wasn't so difficult, was it?"

"Go to hell," hissed Destiny, narrowing her eyes.

"As you wish, may I speak with the colonel now?"

Destiny shot her captain another death glare but she said nothing of what she really wanted to say, instead limiting herself to formal introductions.

"Captain Janek, meet Colonel Everett Young of Icarus Base. Colonel Young, meet Captain Janek of the Ancient fleet, Commander of the Warship Destiny."

Janek moved closer to Young and extended his hand, "Colonel, it's a pleasure."

Young, after a little hesitation, took Janek's hand and shook it. It felt real and warm against his skin and the colonel almost couldn't believe it, but his experience with the communication stones tempered his reactions now. He knew he was still sitting in the Chair and yet he also knew he was here and everything that was happening was just as real.

"Captain Janek, it's… it's a pleasure for me, too."

Janek smiled to the colonel, "I'd like to apologize on behalf of Destiny for the way she's behaved with your crew. She can be difficult at best, this I know very well."

Young was going to reply that 'difficult' wasn't the adjective he would've used to define Destiny, but Destiny spoke first.

"Good thing you're apologizing for me, because I won't! I don't want them here. _They_ don't want to be here. There are plenty of planets around. Let them choose one, and…"

"_Enough_," he hissed, silencing the woman at once. "You're one of the oldest creatures in this universe, Destiny. I expect you to behave like one, and not like a spoiled child. Abandoning them is not an option, and you know it. I know you do. You're better than this, Destiny. What happened to you?"

Young observed Destiny close her eyes, fighting to keep her emotions in control, but it was a lost battle. The first time he had met her, he remembered thinking she was cold and intimidating. Eli always said there was more to her than her tough, cold, sarcastic façade, and for the first time, he could see it too.

"Remember the plague?" she whispered after a while. "Remember what we said that day? I don't want another crew."

"Of course I remember," Janek replied softly, "And I can see what the problem is. However, you have to let go, for their sake as well as your own. We are not coming back, Destiny. You have a new crew now and they need you in order to survive on this ship and in this part of the universe."

"No," Destiny stubbornly replied, but Young noticed she didn't sound enraged like before.

"It's an order, Destiny," continued Janek. "And my wish. Please."

Destiny just shook her head. Janek lowered his head. He looked sad, in Young's opinion, like he was going to do something he really didn't want to.

"Is this your final word?" he asked.

"I'll never welcome another crew, Janek," replied Destiny, unable to bring herself to look at her captain. Something in her voice made Young wonder what had really happened to her, to make her hate the thought of another crew so much. Janek looked at Destiny and Young, and then he took a deep breath.

"Then I'm sorry, my friend, but you don't leave me other choice."

Young frowned, and for a second he felt tempted to ask Janek the sense of his words, but Like Destiny, he truly understood what he really meant only after he began speaking softly the words of the old release formula, the one used when a captain voluntarily renounced his ship. Colonel Young froze in shock as he listened to every word spoken by the Ancient captain, the gravity of the situation finally sinking into his mind. Unbelievable. Impossible. And yet, it was happening.

From his privileged point of view, Rush kept his eyes fixed on Destiny the entire time as she pleaded, screamed and cried but nothing stopped Janek from completing his speech. The young woman looked devastated and unable to believe to what had just happened. It was hard not to feel sorry for her and yet…

Feeling someone watching him as intensely as he was watching Destiny, Rush realized that piercing blue eyes were staring right at him. Janek, or whatever he was, knew he was here but he just looked at Rush with an unreadable expression on his face for a couple of seconds before refocusing on Young and Destiny.

"Please don't do this," she whispered, shaking her head. "Not this, I beg you."

"It's done. You knew it would come to this, Destiny, now give me your hand," Janek looked at Colonel Young, "Colonel, yours as well."

Crying silently, knowing she'd lost this battle of wills, Destiny did as she was told and placed her hand in Janek's, Janek looked at her for a moment and then placed her hand in Colonel Young's. Young looked at Destiny, but the woman avoided his gaze.

"Colonel Everett Young, as former Captain of this ship, I formally give you full command and authority over Destiny. Do you accept this command?"

"Yes, sir, I do," replied Young. Those words sounded inappropriate and reductive, especially considered what he was called to do. Nothing he experienced before could've prepared to command a living ship, especially one that wasn't eager to be commanded by him, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try and do it, for the sake of his people. He looked again at Destiny, at her efforts to keep a straight face. For a second Young felt temped to say something, anything, just to try and comfort her, but Destiny would've never accept that act of kindness from him. She glanced at Janek from time to time, like she hoped he would change his mind, but when he looked at her, Destiny knew it was over, and this time for real.

"Destiny," continued Janek, "do you swear fealty and service to your captain and crew, to speak and to be silent, to do and to let be, in peace or in war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth, until your captain releases you, or death takes you, or the universe ends?"

Destiny lowered her eyes, remembering the day when she swore her loyalty to Janek and his crew with the same oath. After Haldran and his people, Destiny had sworn to herself to never trust another captain or another crew and when Janek specifically requested to become her new captain, as his grandfather – Destiny's first captain – before him, Destiny couldn't stand the sight of him and his people. It took a while, but in the end Destiny would've gone to hell and beyond for Janek and each and every one of her crew members. Was that a case of history repeating itself? Janek had to be certain; otherwise he wouldn't have ever obliged her to do this. He perfectly knew the reasons why she didn't want a new crew.

"Destiny?"

Destiny took a deep breath, "I, Destiny," she said, keeping her voice as calm as she could, "Hereby swear fealty and service to my crew and captain, to speak and to be silent, to do and to let be, in peace or in war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth, until my captain release me, or death take me, or the universe end."

"This I hear, Colonel Young and Destiny. Don't forget it, nor fail to reward that which is given: fealty with love, valor with honor, oath-breaking with vengeance. So be it."

Destiny slightly bowed her head to Young and Janek, and Young did the same, ending the ritual. Destiny immediately released Young's hand and took a couple of steps back.

"Why did you have to do this to me? Why?"

"You know why."

"Sorry to disappoint you," retorted Destiny, "but I don't."

"Then you will. Besides I'm just an echo, Destiny. A ghost in the machine. It's time for me to go."

Destiny gave Janek a bitter smile.

"Right, is that what they call ascension these days?"

"Ascension?" repeated Young, "You said…"

"If you tell yourself a lie, sometimes the lie becomes true. I knew the nanites couldn't cause what happened to Janek, I just never said it aloud."

"Now you have, and it's time for me to go, Destiny," repeated the Ancient, gently stroking her cheek, "Now that I'm sure you won't be alone again."

He'd never touched her publicly before but now he wasn't her captain and rules didn't apply to them anymore. Destiny covered his hand with hers and then gave in to her impulse and hugged him tightly. She didn't care about Young's confusion in what he was seeing, or the terrifying thought of Rush alone in the lab with the Chair, free to do whatever he wanted, all of that took second place. For the first time Destiny was able to hug Janek in front of another person without feeling guilty about it and nothing would ruin that moment.

"I don't want you to go. Please…" she cried against his shoulder as Janek soothingly stroked her back, comforting her.

"I'll always be around, you just won't be able to see me," he said softly, "Take care of her for me," Janek continued, addressing Young and, unknown to Destiny and Young, Rush as well, leaving Rush to wonder if Janek had gone mad even as Young responded to Janek's request with a nod of his head. Janek couldn't be serious. That little glimpse from Destiny's past he stole during her illness just confirmed it; the two of them would never get along without jumping at each other's throats. What was he really asking of him?

A moment later, Rush found himself next to the Chair. He blinked a couple of times, trying to adjust to the sudden change and he immediately removed the hand from the Ancient device, just a few seconds before Destiny regained consciousness. Destiny stared at the void in front of her, a single tear slowly rolling down her cheek. It took her a minute to notice Rush; she had completely forgotten about him being there.

Once more, Rush knew more than what he was willing to admit and once more, he didn't say a word. He just looked at Destiny, at her stubborn attempt to keep her mask in place and fight the tears for as long as she could before running out of the lab when she realized she couldn't hide her feelings any longer, just a moment before Young woke up.

"What happened?"

Young looked at Rush but he honestly couldn't give him an answer, feeling like he had witnessed something he shouldn't have.

He sighed, "I'm in charge of the ship, now," Young said getting up from the Chair, "It's a long story," he added, looking at Rush's dubious expression.

"So I take that was why Destiny was so upset?"

'Not even close, Rush', thought the colonel. "Among other things."

"I can send Eli after her, he has the uncanny ability to find her anytime, anywhere," Rush offered, maintaining the pretence of not knowing what had really happened between Young, Destiny and the former Captain.

"Destiny needs to stay alone, but she'll come around eventually," replied Young, opening the door and getting out of the lab, "She has to."

* * *

**Note: The Oath is not mine, but comes from Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: The return of the King.**


	6. Remembrance, part two

_It's been three days since Janek obliged __Destiny to accept Young as her new commander and this time she doesn't think she'll ever find the courage to get out of her quarters. Willingly, at least. She wants to hate Janek, Young, Eli and his people, to hold them all responsible for what happened but she can't. _

_She can blame no one else but herself__ and her pride and that hurts. _

_Destiny feels tears rolling down her cheeks but this time she doesn't fight them. __She wishes Tamra was here with her, with that eternal grin on her face and tons of common sense. Her friend would probably tell her to stop drowning in self-pity and behave like the tough warrior she is before enumerating on all the battles she'd won and the enemies she defeated. Destiny can almost hear her in her head._

_A knock on the bulkhead interrupts her reflections and Destiny knows it's Young before the man __says a word. For a second, she's tempted to tell him to go away._

"_Destiny, we have to talk. Let me in, please."_

_He didn't say it as such but Destiny can recognize an order when she hears one. She touches the metal wall and a few seconds later the bulkhead opens and she hears the Colonel invading her sanctuary. She's sitting on the floor in her bedroom and doesn't move when Young appears at the door. She looks at the void in front of her, pretending not to notice the man coming closer but she doesn't miss the confused look in his eyes, probably caused by the objects and the children's drawings scattered in the corridor. The Colonel stops when he's in front of her, and then he sits on the edge of the bed. Something Janek did countless times but it's too painful to remember._

_She can tell that __Young is at loss for words, wanting to say something, but not quite sure where to begin. _

"_I'm sorry," he eventually says but Destiny doesn't stop staring at the void._

_She stops crying instead._

"_For coming here or for being my new captain?" she says__ and her voice is steadier than she expected._

"_Both, I guess even if the first one is not exactly my fault."_

"_I guess not," admits Destiny but she can't help avoiding the Colonel's eyes._

"_Help me understand what I saw," he finally says, and Destiny closes her eyes. That was the question he __probably wanted to ask from the moment he entered her quarters, and the one she dreaded the most. _

"_It depends," she replies, weighting every word. "What did you see?"_

"_A broken heart," is Young's __answer and Destiny can't deny the truth in his words. She truly is heartbroken, for the second time in her life, and it's her own fault. Destiny turns and gives the Colonel a bitter smile._

"_After all these years, I should've known better than to challenge him and what's worse is I brought it on myself. In the past I would've asked to be dismissed and to meet a sun. Some of my sisters died that way. But I don't think I can do that now, right?"_

"_We would be immensely grateful if you didn't."_

"_I've sworn __to protect you and my crew, Colonel. I take that oath very seriously."_

"_I know," replies Young and Destiny doesn't miss the hidden meaning in his words. She looks at him and for a moment they just stare at each other in silence. _

"_You remained __loyal until the end and beyond," Young continues, "That's admirable."_

_Destiny chuckles bitterly. _"_And you __should ask Doctor Rush for tips on a better poker face. If you want to ask about me and Janek just do it."_

"_Why don't you just answer me, if you already know my question?"_

"_Because, there's another way," Destiny watches Young for a moment and then gently takes his hand._

"_See for yourself," she says__ and a moment later Young is flooded with her memories of happier times. Destiny can't control the speed of the images running through the Colonel's mind – this is not dream-walking, and her mind works way faster than his – but he doesn't seem to mind as he sees how the relationship with her captain evolved from mutual distrust, to the deep bond he witnessed just a few days earlier. He seems to understand now the reason for her hostile behavior or so it seems from the look in his eyes. The look of someone that's starting to understand the person he's looking at. _

_Destiny watches as Colonel Young leaves the room soon after that telling her she can take all the time she wants to get used to her new situation, but Destiny doesn't want it. As she puts it, she's been through worse. Destiny can see a hint of curiosity in Young's eyes but he says nothing and Destiny pretends not to see it. Instead she asks him a few questions about her new role in the crew but Young has no answers for her yet. He has no idea of how to deal with her and which position Destiny should have but he has the guts to say it clearly and Destiny appreciates the honesty. He also asks her to meet the crew in an hour, to tell everyone the news and Destiny nods in approval. Maybe her first impression was wrong and Young has what it takes to command the ship. She's sworn to obey him, yes, but Destiny still has to know if she can truly trust him. _

_She'll know for sure when she officially meets with him and her crew._

* * *

_Take care of her._

Rush leant on the banister in the observation deck with a frown on his face as he thought again of Janek's words. He still couldn't believe what had happened in the chair: the meeting with the former captain, the oath and _Destiny_ desperate and willing to do everything just to keep Janek in her life, all to no avail. It was hard not to feel sorry for her. Rush knew he would never survive the loss of his wife if he had to experience that all over again. Memories could be the greatest treasure or the cruelest torture someone could inflict upon himself.

Young entered the observation deck in that moment and Rush felt lucky the Colonel couldn't see the smirk on his face. '_Impeccable timing'_, thought the scientist. _'Just when I'm thinking of cruel tortures with no chance of escape.'_

"Rush. Eli told me I could find you in here. I thought you never left that console."

"Sometimes even I need rest, Colonel," replied the scientist, "May I ask why you want to talk to me now?"

"I need you to gather your team in the Gate room. Destiny showed me something they need to see."

"It didn't take long for her to accept you as her new captain. I wonder what really happened while you were in the Chair, to make Destiny change her mind so rapidly."

"We found a common ground," simply replied Young. Rush immediately noticed the man's discomfort, he could've used it to his advantage and pushed a few of the Colonel's buttons but he decided to ignore it. He was too curious to see what Young was talking about and to see how Destiny dealt with her new commanding officer. Judging from what he saw, Destiny might've sworn loyalty to Young but he was far from being her captain. Trust wasn't that girl's strongest virtue - even Eli had said something about it - and Young did nothing yet to try and earn hers.

"Did she say anything about the core systems or the ship's course?"

"We didn't discuss that matter yet but we certainly will in the following days. The meeting's in half an hour, no exceptions," said Young, looking straight at Rush.

Rush gave the Colonel one of his amused little smiles and replied he wouldn't have missed it for the world though he gladly handed over the task of spreading the word to Eli and kept working on his own until it was time to go. Everyone was there but he and Destiny and a few of them were talking about the reason why Young wanted to see all of them. When they spotted Destiny at the threshold, they all went silent. Eli smiled at his friend but the others, observed Rush, gave her the same look of disdain usually reserved for him.

Not that it appeared Destiny cared a bit about that the cold reception as she slowly walked until she was at Young's side waiting for him to speak.

"I asked, and Destiny has accepted, a place under my command," he announced, much to everyone's astonishment, "She'll be reporting to me and from this moment forward acknowledging us as her legitimate crew."

"Does that mean we can finally go home, Colonel?" Volker asked, "That we can access the FTL drive?"

He'd deliberately ignored Destiny and talked to Young but Young just nodded to Destiny and she replied instead.

"When I said I couldn't take you back to Earth, I meant it. FTL stopped working centuries ago. We can move at the speed of light, but nothing more. As for the energy problems we've encountered, we can improve the situation, but dialing Earth is out of question. The energy required surpasses the amount that can be stored."

"And how do we know you're telling the truth?" shouted one of the soldiers.

"Because I swore to be loyal to your people, my former captain took a break from ascension to make sure I would. You can ask the Colonel; he was there too."

But Young could see that no one was really prone to believe her. That was why she needed to show them what she had showed him. That little trip inside her memories shed a little light on the reasons why she was so fiercely loyal to her captain and never planned to collaborate with them; they needed to know that as well.

"And for this exact reason, Destiny, I think you should show them what you showed me: your memories of your crew and your former life."

Rush saw Destiny stiffen up and he couldn't blame her. If she really was compelled to obey Young's orders, there was no way she could get out of this situation without obeying his command.

"That's a lot more than what I showed you," she said after a while. "Janek was my third commander. Many things happened before I met him."

"I'd like to see that too, please. You don't have to show everything, but you need to show them something. You've been able to observe and judge everyone on this ship from the very beginning it's time that they have the chance, for better or worse, to do the same to you."

"Of course, sir," was Destiny's quiet response and Rush quietly moved towards the exit. He didn't want to be there or see what Young wanted Destiny to show them. He already knew enough about her; even Destiny was entitled to have secrets. His actions didn't go as unnoticed as he hoped.

"Where are you going, Rush?" said Young.

"I've heard enough and frankly, I've more urgent things to do than listen the story of the ship. That's what the log in the mainframe is for, anyway," he replied without looking back and before Young could shout for him to stop he was already gone.

"Lotta, lotta work…" commented Young under his breath. "Destiny? Are you ready?"

Destiny nodded to her captain, "Of course. Well, then. Let's get started."

* * *

_It takes just a look at Eli's face __for Destiny to realize the young man knows exactly how she's feeling. And heaven knows Destiny wants to hurt Young for obliging her to share her life with perfect strangers but her friend is there, and hurting him also means hurting Eli. Destiny can't have that._

_Eli is__ still glancing at the door, hoping that Rush would change his mind and join them but he won't. The scientist is a very complicated man but he usually does what he says. And like he said, the ship's log is there for a reason. He can get the facts by reading it, if he wants. He's not coming back to hear her tale and honestly Destiny doesn't care. _

_A tale that began not long after the Ancients arrived in the galaxy, and discovered it was not the safe place they hoped it could be. Neither the Furlings nor the Nox had the strength or the will to fight their enemies, so the Ancients and the Asgards took that task. Their help was essential to the survival of those civilizations and in making the galaxy a safer place. _

_Destiny remembers the day she __metaphorically opened her eyes to the world and the oath she took with Garim, her first captain. She existed just in the ship's mainframe at the time or as a hologram when the captain wanted to talk to her. Destiny still feels a great deal of affection towards that kind man that treated like a real person when she still wasn't one. He was sometimes patronizing but he taught her how to be a good strategist and encouraged her to be her own person. When his health forced him to renounce to his command, he was expecting to leave Destiny in the hands of his son but at the last moment Haldran was named her captain and he made clear from the very beginning that he didn't care for her opinions or advice. But she obeyed his orders and kept her mouth shut, like the crew did, even if she despised that man and how commanded everyone like they were disposable pawns, his arrogance growing day after day._

_Destiny remembers the confusion__ and the doubts in her mind at the mere idea of committing treason when Garim's son Ari, Haldran's second-in-command, asked her if she would stand by his side when he tried take over the ship and end Haldran's fear regime. Ari didn't know for sure Destiny was with his people until the very last moment when he made his move and she placed the ship's systems in his hands. A naïve move she realizes now. She wanted to help her crew but she hadn't considered that Haldran and his men would escape from the brig before they rejoined the rest of the fleet on Dakara._

_Destiny __can choose what she makes them aware, whether it's what happened after Haldran regained control over the ship or just move on to the moment she met Janek for the first time. The few of them that had been nice to her don't deserve to see this. Out of compassion for them and Eli, Destiny doesn't really get into details but she remembers everything like it happened the day before. After Haldran imprisoned the mutineers and disabled her access to the mainframe, one of the unnamed enemy races they were at war with came out of hyperspace and attacked the ship. The ship was abandoned, and Destiny was willingly left behind by her captain, completely helpless in front of her enemy. Her last memory of that moment was the star crown of a nearby star, burning the ship after it was captured in its gravitational field. Then, darkness, confusion, flashes of her life running through her head. It took her a while after she opened her eyes to realize she had been downloaded into her avatar but less than a second to remember what had been done to her. Destiny screamed so hard and for so long she lost her voice, her only way to let out all the pain and horror she had experienced when she was almost burned alive. Of course, she was the one blamed for everything, mutiny included. Destiny was labeled as an evil, manipulative, dangerous machine and sentenced to death._

_The only reason why Destiny survived, as she shows to the crew, __is that Janek, Garim's oldest nephew, used his family influence and did whatever in his power to keep her alive. He was dead set on becoming her captain; he told her that himself when she first saw him in her cell. No matter how cold, defiant, angry and introverted she had become or what her former captain said about her. His grandfather always told him she was the best ship in the fleet and he was the young rising star among the other captains. Destiny didn't want to die and in the end she had given in and grudgingly swore loyalty to him. It's something that sounds awfully familiar in that moment but Destiny doesn't want to think about it. _

_She can't help herself__ and shows them a memory of the real spoiled brat of the family, her younger sister, Aurora. She was downloaded in her blonde-haired avatar because the Ancient scientists hoped to put a stop to her antics that way, but without success. Aurora didn't like fighting and when she did she was too much of a wildcard. She was tolerated only thanks to her engineering skills and her obsession with understand how things worked and how to make them work better. Together with Alaric, her captain, Destiny did her best to keep her under control, but after she was locked up Aurora became even wilder. The Elder Council eventually sentenced her to meet a sun like her older sister or leave for deep-space exploration, along with all the soldiers that, like her, were considered more a liability than an asset. She chose exile._

_Haldran __ending up between the undesirables felt like poetic justice to Destiny. That stupid man thought he was untouchable, that he could come to her cell and take out his rage on her because she was getting out, as opposed to executed like he wanted and that he could get away with it thanks to her nanites that would heal any cut or bruise on her body before someone would notice. Janek noticed, and so did Alaric, but just one of them had nothing to lose and everything to gain by exposing Haldran's actions. Alaric knew that as her former Captain he would've never been allowed to follow Aurora into the uncharted territories, so he chose to break the law and get exiled but only after getting revenge on Destiny's behalf first, exposing Haldran's abuses on Destiny and his former crew. Everyone got what they wanted in the end, as weird and dangerous as it sounded. Destiny resumed her life as the ship's AI a few days later and her nemesis was sentenced to exile along with Alaric. Aurora didn't seem to care about Haldran's presence on her crew but Destiny was confident that Alaric would watch over her and eventually protect her from that man._

_Aurora left a few days before __she first met Janek's crew and it was clear since the beginning that Janek was the only one that really believed it was a good idea to give her a second chance. It was a long, painful and slow process. By the time the war ended, the Ancient's allies, minus the Asgards, asked them to get rid of the surviving ships because they were scared of the level of sentience reached by the AIs. Harbingers of death, they were called. At that point Destiny and her crew were one and the same and when she chose to join her surviving sisters and to leave the galaxy, they all voluntarily came with her. At some point, for the first time since her creation, Destiny even had children onboard the ship. Tiny, annoying creatures but she grew to love them as much as she loved their parents. _

_It's very difficult for Destiny__ to face how she lost them, and again, she decides to skip the most painful parts. The only things those people need to know is that the crew got decimated by an unknown virus and that a meteor shower killed the rest. No need to show the details, or how they died, as she doesn't feel the need to explain why Janek survived the plague. Young can do it in her place if he wants to. She shows them the moment Janek ascended though, as Tamra and a few others managed to do before dying. _

_That's it, she decides suddenly, and all th__ose presents snap out of the collective vision. Destiny looks at her crew but the majority of them can't bring themselves to raise the eyes from the floor, a few even look upset. Volker, Brody, Greer and Scott are looking at her and in their eyes she can see a respect that wasn't there before. Eli is staring at her with sad eyes and he's the only one whose gaze Destiny can't hold._

_She needs to stay alone, and judging from their faces, so do the__y. Especially Young, as it seems that was more than he expected. He barely nods when Destiny asks him for permission to leave, and she forces herself to walk out of that room as slowly as humanly possible. She has never felt more vulnerable in her life but she will hold on to every shred of dignity she has left to make sure no one sees how much this affected her._

* * *

When Eli joined him back at work, Rush didn't say a word about his young assistant's face. He looked incredibly sad but the scientist just assumed Destiny had showed him something he really didn't want to know about her, and Eli couldn't deal with that revelation in a more mature way. His theory stopped working, though, when Park, Volker and Brody joined them. They all looked as depressed as Eli. Park even excused herself after a few minutes and ran out of the room before she burst into tears, immediately followed by Volker. Brody explained to Rush that witnessing the crew's children fate had been really hard to watch for her.

"That wasn't the only part hard to watch," commented Eli, his eyes glued to his console. Franklin just nodded.

"Well, sure, the mutiny and what happened after…"

"Can we please concentrate?" interrupted Rush, "The main systems are still locked and there are many sectors of this ship that remains unexplored. We have work to do."

"With all due respect, if you saw what we saw…"

"Judging by what I'm seeing right now, Eli, I'm glad I didn't," replied the scientist, earning two angry looks from Eli and Brody. Eli was about to tell Rush what he really thought of him but the other scientist just touched his shoulder and silently shook his head.

Rush threw his arms up in irritated despair and left the room, however it didn't take long for the scientist to notice that Eli and the others weren't the only ones affected by Destiny's story. From what he could gather, the mistrust and the hate the people onboard felt for Destiny switched places with sympathy and comprehension. Even Greer, one of the people that probably hated Destiny the most, now talked about her as a brave soldier and someone he could actually relate to. Unbelievable.

"Congratulations. I think you earned it," he said entering the observation deck, slowly clapping his hands. Destiny was staring out at hyperspace and didn't turn to face him.

"Should I know what you're talking about, Doctor?" she asked.

"Let's pretend you do."

Destiny turned then, leaning against the banister with her elbows.

"Good. Let's also pretend we actually like each other, or this conversation won't last long."

Rush moved closer, "What makes you think I don't like you?"

"You're here. We're alone. And you look quite annoyed."

"At the others, not you. In fact, Destiny, I just want to know how you did it."

"I did nothing," replied Destiny, "I just obeyed a direct order from my new commander."

"Really?" said Rush not believing her in the least, "Is it really possible that someone as proud as you are would accept an order to share every aspect of her life with some strangers without resenting that order, or even trying to get a little revenge at the same time?"

Destiny smiled, amused and intrigued at the same time, "You sounds like you have a theory about what happened. I can't wait to hear it."

"My theory is simple," explained Rush. "You gave everyone just a bit more information than needed but not the entire story, just enough to make them feel like intruders."

"And how do you know I didn't tell them everything?"

"I accessed a few parts of the ship's log, enough to make me think that what you showed them lacked the really hard parts of your life."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because Eli was there and you would never hurt him on purpose," Rush replied, with a hint of a smug smile on his face, "You couldn't."

Destiny returned the smile and nodded slightly, he was good, "Eli is one of the kindest souls I've ever met. I almost wished he followed you when you left the room."

"He ruined your revenge."

"He prevented me from doing something I would eventually regret. I'm… difficult, as my captain would say. Mood swings. It's not easy to get along with me. "

"But you don't regret what you've done."

Destiny tilted her head and smiled, she was enjoying this conversation more than she should have.

"Another theory of yours, Doctor? Please, enlighten me on my secret agenda."

"You don't like Young any more than I do," Rush said bluntly and Destiny could see the pleasantries were over, now it was time for more serious talk.

"Irrelevant," she replied straightening up and moving closer to Rush, "I've been ordered to follow his orders by my own captain."

"But now everyone on this ship empathizes with you. It's safe to say that no one from now on will find the courage to openly challenge your authority. Our military commander cannot say the same, I'm afraid."

"I don't see why someone would want to challenge Young's authority," said Destiny, still pretending not to know where the discussion was headed.

"Young is not the right man for the job," continued Rush, "He's not committed to the mission. The only thing he wants is to go back to Earth. This is the opportunity of a lifetime."

"Like I said, the FTL can't be repaired and dialing Earth is not a viable option, as you already know. No one is going anywhere. And you want things to stay that way, don't you?" said Destiny, tired of this little game they were playing.

"This is the coronation of my life's work. Coming here was my destiny," said Rush, looking straight into Destiny's eyes.

"That's not an answer, Doctor, and what about the others? Was it their destiny too?"

Rush shrugged, "Only time will tell."

Destiny laughed and shook her head. "You're incredible! Really, you are. Do you really think that, or you just don't care?"

"You tell me."

"And I will," Destiny said suddenly serious again, "Just not today."

She was looking at something just above his shoulder and when Rush turned to see what had caught her attention he saw Eli on the threshold. He couldn't help but wonder how long he had been there and how much of his conversation with Destiny he actually heard.

"Eli," said Destiny with a smile, "Do you need something?"

"Well no, not exactly, I just… am I interrupting something? I was looking for you and I heard you two talking and not shouting at each other like you usually do, so…"

"We just discovered we can actually have a civil conversation without killing each other, Eli," commented Rush, and Destiny nodded.

"Shocking, we know. We're shocked too."

"Oh. Cool," said Eli. "Good, I'll leave, then."

"No, you won't," said Destiny, stopping him. "I've something for you, Eli. I shouldn't have showed you and the others certain things. I want to apologize."

"What? No! Dee, really. I'm good. A little shaken, maybe, but it's not like I wasn't expecting to see R-rated stuff, battles or violence and you were angry at Young, I get it. Sort of. Hell, I would be too if I had to tell the story of my life in front of complete strangers..."

"Was that so obvious?"

Eli nodded. "Pretty much to me, at least. Dunno about the others, they can't stop talking about you right now, anyway."

"Are they? Perfect, we won't have to look over our shoulders," said Destiny, motioning for Eli and Rush to come with her. "Follow me."

"Where are you taking us?" asked Rush.

"I told you. I want to apologize."

"And I've told you there's no need!" replied Eli. Destiny smiled and said she wanted to do it anyway.

"Everyone has found proper quarters but you, do you really want to keep living there?" Destiny asked out of the blue, before turning left.

"I like it!"

"Well, I like the engine room too, but that doesn't mean I want to sleep there," she said, changing direction again. She did the same thing two more times, leading the two men in a still unexplored part of the ship and stopped in front of a door.

"You think you can get here on your own? Twenty-four steps in every direction, give or take. Prya couldn't do a thing the easy way, not even if her life depended on it."

"Prya? Ok, I'm officially lost. Quite literally."

"Just open that door, Eli."

Eli shot Destiny and Rush a perplexed look, but did as he was told. He thought that maybe Destiny was giving him new quarters so he wasn't exactly expecting to find a lab. The kind of lab that would make any of his nerd friends back on Earth burn with envy, there were computers everywhere, the kind they had already seen around the ship and others that were completely different. A couple looked like they had been built from scratch in that very place.

Even Rush couldn't keep a straight face when Eli turned to look at them with the face of a child left free to roam in a candy store.

"Prya hated to work surrounded by people, me included. She created this place on her own to work on her projects. Her quarters are right next to her lab," explained Destiny, but she was sure Eli didn't catch a word. He was too busy admiring the machines and wondering how to make them work again.

"I still don't understand why I'm here," commented Rush in a low voice, mildly annoyed by the situation.

"You will. Hope you have that notebook on you," replied Destiny with the same tone, "Eli? Try this," she then said louder and she began dictating a long string of numbers to the young man. Eli inserted the numbers into what looked like the main system and everything came to life in an instant. Eli was too busy rejoicing end exploring his new little kingdom to notice that Destiny and Rush had moved away from the door. The scientist was still holding in his hand the pencil and the notebook in which he had written down the twelve-digit code Destiny had just given to Eli and he looked at Destiny with a weird look in his eyes. Destiny looked at the numbers and then at Rush's face. She gave him a small smile before her face took on a more serious expression.

"Don't make me regret this," she said but it was enough for the scientist to understand that his suspicions – his hopes – were right.

Destiny had just given him a master code.

* * *

_Destiny wishes she could say she's confused, that reliving her past was too much and that she's not thinking straight. She just would love to have some excuse for her b__ehavior. Like it or not, Janek was right: since they came aboard, she's behaved like a spoiled child. She has a captain now and that means rules. Destiny needs to remember who she once was but she pretends she can start that process the following day, because her old self would've never entrusted Rush with a master code before giving it to her legitimate captain. Rush is arrogant, insufferable and he has never considered her a living being. Or at least he never did it until that day. Destiny can't help but wonder what made him change his mind, but at the moment she doesn't really care. It's a leap of faith and an act of rebellion at the same time. She really hopes she won't regret it._

_Rush and Destiny __immediately go back to the control room. Rush almost runs inside and shoves away one of the scientists from 'his' console – the one growing food with the hydroponic system, Destiny recalls. She makes a mental note to introduce Doctor Franklin to the greenhouse in the central sector of the ship once it's viable again. Destiny watches Rush typing the code as fast as he can, and she can't help but smile as she sees the man realize the entire ship – minus navigation systems and the Chair, obviously – is under his command. His genuine enthusiasm for a second reminds her of Eli but she values her life too much to say it aloud. _

_Franklin runs to call Young, and when the __Colonel steps inside the room Destiny can see on his face the look she saw earlier that day. Young now knows her for real and that's probably the reason why he looks so worried to see her standing next to Rush. Destiny is not surprised at all when he asks her to talk with him._

"_I thought we were on the same side," he says__ once they're in his office and Destiny can't help but laugh in his face._

"_And I thought I could trust you to keep what I __showed you to yourself. Guess we're both feeling betrayed."_

"_No one would've ever trusted you otherwise," is his only explanation. Destiny stares at him and shakes her head._

"_After what happened, I hardly blame them for not trusting me. But trust is not given, it's earned. You prevented me from doing it. You forced my hand today, Colonel. You better don't do it again."_

"_You're under my command, Destiny, not the other way around," Young reminds her and for a second he reminds her of Janek. The same quiet tone, full of disapproval._

"_I know this now. Like I know I should probably apologize to you because every word Janek said about me behaving like a child, it was true. But forcing me to share my life with people I barely know it's not the right way to start our relationship. Janek saw something in you, otherwise he wouldn't have obliged us to take the oath. The problem is, I don't see it. Rush says you're not the right man for this mission and I can't say he's wrong. You're not. And neither is this crew. Not yet anyway."_

"_Rush, huh? I wish I could say I was surprised," comments Young __and Destiny just shakes her head at his sarcasm._

"_Rush has the commitment and the brain to run this mission. He feels a connection to this plac__e and me, now that he's finally stopped considering me just a machine. But he doesn't have what it takes to actually be this mission's leader, even if he wants to. What I'm trying to say, sir, is that this crew can't be ruled by just one of you."_

"_And what do you suggest?"_

"_I don't appreciate the sarcasm, Colonel. Whether you like it or not, in this situation you need him more than he needs you. And since it's very unlikely you two stop fighting each other and actually start working together of your own accord, as you've just pointed out, I don't see another choice but playing both sides. Someone has to look after the crew."_

"_We're trying to do our best in less-than-ideal conditions, Destiny.__ People know this."_

"_I'm going to try and keep everyone as happy as possible in this situation by giving them what they need in this moment. Eli needed better quarters,__ Doctor Rush now has full access to all the parts of the mainframe that don't require all the master codes and hopefully this will keep him from attacking you, at least for the time being. TJ's psych evaluations will give me a little more insight on the others, if she will let me have a peek."_

"_You don't need to do that. They just want to go back home."_

"_But what they _need_ is to accept that it might never happen," insists Destiny. "This ship is not a bad place to live, all things considered, but everyone has to do their part. With a little luck, we'll smother the discontent before it gets worse." _

"_Sounds like that was your plan all along."_

_Destiny almost wishes it was, but she's pretty satisfied with how things turned up in the end. __She can't also help but feel a little excited, even if she wouldn't admit it to anyone, herself included. _

"_No, it wasn't," Destiny replies. "But I can deal with the consequences of an ill-advised decision and use them to my crew's advantage, and mine," she says, turning her back to Young and opening the door. _

_Destiny can't help but grin when she leaves Young's office._

_A crew to train__ from scratch. _

_Feels__ almost like old times. _

**Note to all you lurkers and secret admirers: come out of hiding and leave me some comments! There are 32 alerts on this story, so I expect at least some of you to comment! Okay, I suck at being mean, so... please? It would totally make my day.**


	7. Faith

When Destiny appeared on the hydroponics lab's threshold and asked to have a word in private with him, Doctor Franklin felt shivers running down his spine. It had been just a few weeks since everyone on board learned every single aspect about Destiny's life, and while a lot of people felt forgiving enough to give Destiny another chance, he and a few others felt… conflicted. She was willing to help, and he definitely felt sorry for her and what she had been through, but at the end of the day she entered his mind and trapped him inside of a dream. A very pleasant dream, though, with his wife, his beloved Labrador and the house on the beach they rented for an entire summer when they were newlyweds, but that would end up killing him in the end.

The word in the mess hall was that Destiny was trying to atone for that by giving everyone what they needed to make their lives more bearable on the ship, with Young's blessing, and Franklin wondered for a while when it would be his turn. TJ was busy testing all the surviving crates of medicines Destiny gave her, Brody was still in awe after she took him for a little tour of the engine room and began explaining the engineer how things worked down there, Wray was given a master code, thus more decisional power in the crew, and after she introduced Becker and the others to the real kitchen and other facilities, food and life quality had noticeably improved. 'Right, food', he thought giving his little plants a sad glance. Real food was still not a option at the moment.

"Doctor Franklin, are you alright?"

Franklin nodded, and took a deep breath to calm down. "Of course. So, Destiny, what do you need to tell me?"

"I understand you're trying to grow food in this lab," she tentatively commented, looking at the little sprouts. "How is it going?"

Franklin sighed loudly. "I think you can tell by yourself," he said, showing the pods with a theatrical gesture of his arm. "By the time something will be ready to eat, we'll be all dead. Well, maybe except for you. You can't die, right?"

"Oh, I can. I just happen to be more resilient than others. Like something else on board," Destiny said with a smile. Franklin frowned, and asked her what the hell was she was talking about.

"I'll need just a few minutes of your time, you can go back to work after that."

"Oh, right. What am I getting? New quarters? A new shirt maybe?"

"No. Something better. Come on," she motioned him to follow her out of the lab. "It's not far from here, but it's in the unexplored part of the ship."

Franklin stopped. "Wait. Does Colonel Young…?"

"Not exactly," Destiny answered, and the doctor felt again a shiver along his back. Destiny tilted her head and smiled.

"Doctor, please. Relax. The colonel gave me his approval. I don't want to murder you and toss your body out the airlock. And Doctor Brown is on her way here, she's joining us."

Doctor Katie Brown was the resident botanist, and one of the people Franklin knew to have fully forgiven Destiny. For a second he felt relieved, but he wasn't going to change topic so easily.

"This is not funny, lady. What you did to us…"

"The fact I didn't go through with it will never count for something?"

"That happened just because you decided you liked Eli. Or you would you've stopped anyway?"

Destiny lowered her eyes. "I wish I could tell you, but I honestly don't know. Loneliness can make you crazy, I know that now. I'm glad I did stop, though."

"We all are."

Destiny sighed. "If you don't trust me, Doctor, maybe Colonel Young can come with us, but I was really hoping to show that place to you first. There's not many people around here as interested as you are in growing food, or with Doctor Brown's field knowledge."

"Did you mention growing food?" said a female voice said just outside the lab. A moment later, a woman in her forties with red hair and a warm smile made her appearance. Destiny greeted her, and Katie asked her why she was there.

"You already assigned me that lab where I can study the alien plants we take on board… and now you mention growing food. I know you have a love for riddles, but come on, Destiny… spill the beans."

"Just follow me, Doctors. You won't be disappointed, believe me."

Katie chuckled. Franklin shook his head. "Okay, fine. Lead the way," he said, and they followed Destiny outside the lab. He just stayed silent while the two women chatted; Katie had spent a few years on Atlantis, and Destiny loved to learn every thing she could about it, or her, as she insisted to call the city 'sister'. Katie was telling Destiny about the everyday life in the Pegasus galaxy when Franklin noticed they had entered a sector of the ship he'd never seen before, but that Eli had previously marked as unsafe. Problems with the life support system, he said.

"Is it safe?"

"I fixed the life support and repaired the fractures that caused the pressure problems," replied Destiny. "It's perfectly safe, Doctor. You know, I had this exact conversation with other people in other parts of the ship, but no one _freaked out_ like you..."

If possible, hearing Destiny using slang from Earth made Franklin frown even more." Wait. What did you just say?"

"Did…Did I say something wrong? I'm still trying to get used to this new words and their meanings."

"I think what Doctor Franklin is trying to say, Destiny, it's just that… you sounded like one of us."

"Yeah. It's weird… and slightly disturbing."

Katie glared at Franklin, but Destiny didn't notice.

"I've listened to you since your arrival here," she explained, "and Eli is teaching me new words every day. Well, here we are," said Destiny stopping in front of a bulkhead bigger than the others, at the end of the corridor.

"Destiny, enough with the teasing. Speak."

Destiny's answer was to press a button to open the doors. Almost immediately, Franklin and Brown shielded their eyes from the harsh light coming from that room, but the discomfort lasted only a few moments. When their eyes adjusted to the light and could see the content of that place, he could help but smile.

"Welcome to the greenhouse, Doctors Franklin and Brown," commented Destiny, and she gently pushed Franklin inside. Katie didn't need the encouragement, and stepped inside immediately.

"Oh my… This is beautiful!" said Katie said, already kneeling in front of a bush to give a closer look to some purple berries.

"It is. But how… I mean, we're talking millions of years… how is it possible?" he asked, looking at all the plants around him. There were even a few trees, some older, some younger. One of them had its branches heavy with fruit that looked like apples. Franklin hated apples since childhood, but in that moment he just wanted to eat bit one and savor it. Protein bars aside, he couldn't remember the last time he tasted solid food.

"Not exactly millions of years… " replied Destiny, taking one of the apples from one of the lower branches. "More like a few thousands, according to the ship's computer."

"Relativity isn't an explanation."

"How about this? The greenhouse is another of my sister Aurora's engineering projects, and one of the things I repaired first. Except for the old tree in the corner, I recreated this place two months ago, before I started running maintenance in the engine room. The ecosystem works three times faster than normal and it's able to basically support itself, but still, it took time to grow some food. That's also why I waited to tell everybody, I wanted to be sure it worked and this sector was safe. Plus… gardening is not exactly my field of expertise."

"You did a great job, Destiny," smiled Katie. "And… and what do you have in here?"

"I planted every seed I had left, and everything is edible in here, but you should probably analyze everything and then decide what to keep and what to eradicate. Because this is what I was thinking… you two could take care of this place."

Kate smiled broadly, clearly excited by Destiny's proposal, but Franklin didn't share her enthusiasm. "_What_? No, really, I'm flattered, but… you saw the lab! I _can't_ grow food!"

"Doctor Brown can. And you're _committed_ to do this. Right now, we have green vegetables, some fruit, a few roots, some plants you can use to make beverages… find the right people and start cataloguing everything. I'll deal with Doctor Rush," she added, before Franklin could interrupt her, "he won't object to this, should you accept it."

Franklin moved closer to a couple of plants he recognized, and touched the ground. The fake sunlight felt so warm and real on his skin he could almost pretend he was on Earth.

"We should leave now," said Destiny, but Franklin replied he wanted to stay a little longer, that he could go back on his own, and Katie assured her she could find her way back, too.

"And maybe we could bring some of these apples to Becker," suggested the woman. "This would definitely cheer him up."

"This will cheer _everyone_ up. Destiny?"

"Yes?"

"I just want to… Well, it's not a new shirt, but I definitely needed to see this. I suppose I have to say thanks you," said Franklin said.

"No, you don't. You said it yourself, forgiveness is not a given."

"But I'll say it anyway. Thanks."

Destiny nodded, reminded the two scientists again of how to get back to the other inhabited part of the ship, and left a few moments later to retrieve her touchscreen from her quarters. Counting the greenhouse, the majority of the ship's facilities had now been restored and given to those crew members that were destined for working with them, with good results. The decision that had everyone questioning her intention, though, was the one she made when she assigned Chloe to kitchen duty indefinitely. While Rush and TJ – the other possessor of a code, the one Young chose personally like she chose Rush – didn't object, Wray kept objecting saying that it wasn't the right place for Chloe. Young made a leap of faith instead and trusted Destiny's her judgment when other people didn't, and it paid it off when Chloe, after getting to know better almost every member of the crew during the shifts in the kitchen, finally stepped up and put her degree and negotiating skills to good use by pacifying a group of civilians that weren't happy with the food and the water rationing decided by the military, in front of the colonel and Wray.

Destiny was feeling proud of Chloe and herself, but the nod of approval she got from Young made her feel even prouder. She didn't know when it happened, but Destiny now trusted the colonel, and was happy about of their good relationship. There was just one thing about Young that Destiny didn't understand, and that was his decision not to tell anyone on Earth about her existence. She didn't know why Young and the others – except Wray – wanted to keep it a secret, and when she asked for an explanation he simply replied that she wasn't the only one taking the oath seriously.

"You don't need to protect me from them, or them from me," replied Destiny. " I think I've demonstrated I'm not a liability. What makes you think they wouldn't accept my presence on board?"

Young looked uncomfortable and by now, Destiny knew that look – it was the one that preceded a conversation Young didn't really want to have. Before he had the chance to answer Destiny's question, though, the colonel's radio came to life. It was Scott, who requested the colonel's presence in the mess hall. Apparently, Becker, Brown and Franklin surprised everyone with a crate full of apples and the rest of the crew was in a turmoil. Young frowned, confused, and Destiny bit her lip, trying not to smile when he looked at her after the conversation with Scott was over.

"I've told you about my plans for the greenhouse, colonel. Why are you so surprised?"

"_Apples_, Destiny? You told me you reopened that place just a few months ago. Isn't it a little early for that?"

"A few fruit trees survived the stasis. And if I may, sir, you should go now. I think that not even your rank might keep the crew from taking all the apples, at least not today. We can resume our conversation later."

Young was looking uncomfortable again briefly took again that look, and Destiny bit her lip, wondering what Young wasn't telling her. She also considered waiting for Young to come back, but she was sure the colonel would've found a way to change topic, or to not address it at all; he would've already told her everything otherwise.

Destiny left the office and went looking for Eli and maybe a few answers, but after she caught her friend on the observation deck sharing his apple with Chloe and happily eating his half, she decided not to intrude. Chloe loved to spend the majority of her free time with her boyfriend, and Destiny knew how Eli missed his best friend. It was a shame Chloe was the only girl Eli had eyes for, though. One of James' friends had shown a little interest in him, but Eli was so taken by the Senator's daughter that he didn't even notice her attempts to get his attention.

The next person Destiny went looking for was Doctor Rush, and she wasn't surprised at all when she found saw him working with the control interface Eli and the other scientists had renamed 'Apple Core'. Destiny silently leaned against the door frame and observed the man working, still oblivious to her presence there. His eyes never left the screen, focused as he was to on learning every single thing he could to help him to better understand the ship better. And he was doing a really good job, Destiny had to admit it. After he began to study – or devour, as Eli put it – every file present on the mainframe, even her maintenance sessions improved. The system was almost back to its old speed, and the incidents were now reduced to a minimum. Destiny knew from Eli and the other scientists she had befriended, that for knowledge of the Ancient race, language and technology, Nicholas Rush was second only to Doctor Daniel Jackson (whom she got to know only through a couple of orientation videos that somehow survived the getaway from Icarus Base), which was something impressive considering he entered the Stargate program only a couple of years earlier. Or maybe not, thought the woman thought, her eyes fixed on the thin golden ring on his right hand. TJ had explained to her that it was a wedding ring, and the colonel sported one as well, but Rush never mentioned a wife waiting for him on Earth, and Destiny was now quite sure she was dead. Rush looked like a man with no other reason to wake up in the morning but working at that console and solving problems, like his obsessions were the only things that were keeping him alive. He behaved like he had nothing to lose because he had probably already lost everything long before coming there.

"Are you going to stare at me for much longer, Destiny?" said Rush, interrupting her reflections. "It's starting to get annoying."

Destiny smiled and moved closer to the scientist.

"Everyone is enjoying some fresh food in the mess, and obviously, you're here," said Destiny, moving closer to the scientist.

"Apples are not my favorite fruit," replied Rush.

"Neither are Doctor Franklin's but I saw him eating one without even chewing when I checked the mess. Mildly disturbing, I might add," she added, stopping at the opposite side of the console.

"You're not here to make small talk. Did colonel Young sent you?"

"No, Doctor Rush," replied Destiny replied, feeling suddenly feeling unsure. "I… I need some answers."

This finally got Rush's attention. The man stopped working and gave Destiny an ironic smile.

"Well, well. I would've never thought to see this day. Aren't _you_ supposed to be the one with all the answers, Destiny?"

"Funny, I don't feel like I am, right now."

"One of the unfortunate downsides of humanity, I'm afraid."

Destiny sighed. That was nothing more than their usual conversation, and usually she loved exchanging sarcastic remarks with the scientist about her nature now that their relationship had finally improved, but today she wasn't in the mood for playing.

"Indeed. Well, sorry for interrupting you, Doctor. I'll go away now."

She quickly turned and moved towards the door, but Rush was quicker and gently grabbed Destiny's by her wrist, stopping her.

"Why don't you tell me why you came here instead?" he softly said.

Destiny sighed, and slowly turned to face Rush. He let her go, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm trying to understand why the colonel didn't tell his superiors on Earth about me."

"And why aren't you asking him?" asked Rush, frowning slightly.

"I did, but we were interrupted. And he didn't seem that eager to discuss it with me. I need someone to tell me why."

"And you came to me. Interesting."

"Enough with games, Doctor, today I'm not in the mood. What can you tell me about it?"

"Not much, I'm afraid," Rush said, and Destiny lowered her eyes for a second before looking at Rush again. As he also noticed, she wasn't above begging.

"It'll be always more than what I know now. Please."

Rush nodded, with a serious look in his eyes. "Then close the door, Destiny. I'll tell you everything I know."

* * *

_Destiny was certain that Young's reasons to keep her hidden had a lot to do with her unpredictable behavior, and the way she acted before the oath was taken. She doesn't expect to hear about a race called the Replicators. Rush admits he doesn't know much about them, but his words are enough for Destiny to start placing the pieces together. These Replicators almost destroyed the Asgards and the Milky Way, but from what she understands, they aren't nothing like her, and she doesn't comprehend why Rush is comparing her and her sisters to such an inferior race. It's insulting, but as he explains to her, if he's making this comparison, maybe even other people might. General O'Neill has a deep dislike for this creatures, he also adds, and he might not see the difference between them and Destiny._

_He also mentions the presence of Replicators in the Pegasus galaxy – Asurans, he calls them – but Destiny laughs and doesn't believe that to be possible. Pegasus was the most important Ancient outpost in the known universe, it's impossible that the Ancients would really allow to an enemy so strong and dangerous to live and replicate without doing nothing to prevent it. But Rush contradicts her, and names a race called Wraith that originated in that galaxy only thanks to the Ancients' arrogance and negligence. And he then he says something that Destiny wasn't expecting at all: the Asurans had been created by the Ancients, exactly like her and her sisters._

_Rush now is on a more familiar ground, and tells Destiny about their nature as a weapon against the Wraith, about their rebellion and the Ancients' bombing of Asura, their home planet, and how the people of Atlantis destroyed them and the planet when the Asurans began to attack human worlds. The Asurans originated from another Ancient invention, though, Rush says, and describes Destiny's nanites, the same nanites that enhance her immune system and allow her to interface with the ship's systems. _

_Forgotten and replaced. Destiny would've never imagined her own creators would do that to them, after all the battles they had fought, the things they had done to protect that race. The peace treaty stated clearly that the Ancients were forbidden to create other sentient life forms in their image, so they clearly waited until they moved to in the Pegasus galaxy in order to work without external interferences. Clever, but she doesn't expect any less by her creators. _

_Garim used to repeat repeatedly tell her that the truth, no matter how unpleasant, can set you free. In this very moment, though, Destiny feels so upset she would've preferred to keep living her lie._

_The only thing Destiny and her sisters ever wanted to do was to serve and protect their creators, by any means possible. They never asked anything more in return anything more than to be remembered, but apparently their loyalty was repaid with a slow descent into oblivion._

_Destiny feels guilty once again. She blamed her current crew for their ignorance, but apparently she had been taking her anger out on the wrong people from the start._

* * *

Destiny felt immensely grateful Doctor Rush made her close the lab doors when he decided to tell her about the Ancients and the Replicators. He probably knew her well enough to know she was likely to have a breakdown, and Destiny couldn't deny it, he was right. In that very moment she was pacing in the small room like a caged animal, unable to calm down.

"Why? Just… _why_? If both the Nox and the Furlings stopped being a problem, they could've created more of us! Why invest time and energy to generate a new and clearly inferior race when they already had us?"

"You're missing the point, Destiny," Rush quietly replied. Destiny stopped pacing and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Then enlighten me, you're very good at this," said Destiny. "What was the problem?"

"Your evolution level."

Destiny shook her head. "No. Evolution was a part of the process, Doctor Rush. The more we learned, the more we could adapt to whatever we had to face. We were created like this."

"Then what do you think would've happened if you had stayed in the Milky Way?"

"We would've kept doing our job," Destiny immediately said. "Our loyalty has never been in discussion! They were our creators, we spent our lives protecting them, fighting for them…"

"But there were no more battles to fight, Destiny, and you were changing and becoming more and more human. Maybe one day you could've rebelled and asked to be treated as equals and not just like machines. Maybe they didn't want that to happen."

" So _our own creators_ started to think of us as a problem? It's that what you think?"

Rush didn't reply, but his expression was answer enough. Destiny brought a hand to her face and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Disowned, forgotten and replaced. Destiny couldn't believe it, and yet, somewhere inside of her, she felt it was true. There was no other explanation.

"I'm not the only one that changed, though," Destiny replied softly after a few minutes. "They did, too. The Ancients you described, the ones that allowed the creation of a race as dangerous as the Wraith to threaten life in an entire galaxy aren't the masters I swore to serve. All things considered, maybe it's a good thing we never came back, the Milky Way wasn't our place anymore. We could've ended up as the Asurans, or worse."

"We'll never know."

"Don't fail to reward that which is given," recited Destiny, with a sad look in her eyes. "Fealty with love, valor with honor, oath-breaking with vengeance. It's the final part of the oath we have to take with our captains. It seems the only ones that believed in those words were my sisters, our captains and our crews."

"Young seems to believe in these words, too, judging by his actions."

"Yes, I know he does," said Destiny, thinking of the conversation she just had with Rush and feeling suddenly glad he was the one that answered her questions. He helped her analyze the situation in a rational way, something she wasn't sure Young could've achieved with the same results. But there was one question Destiny still had to ask.

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but having a new captain, a new crew... Maybe I didn't want it, but it was exactly what I needed. There's still one thing I never asked and you never told me, though, and it's how you arrived here in the first place. You clearly had no idea you were going to board a spaceship, and before you met me you were completely oblivious of my existence. Where did you find the ninth-chevron address?"

"We found it in the Atlantis database," explained Rush. "There were no indications of where the address could lead, and no one really believed we would actually succeed in dialing it."

Destiny nodded, but a few seconds later, out of the blue, she burst into laughter in front of the scientist, who just kept limited to looking at her for a little while before asking her what the hell had gotten into her.

"Sorry. I just find it incredibly amusing that a race that went to such great lengths to erase every trace of information about my sister's existence, and mine, somehow _forgot_ to erase my Gate address. I can't help but wonder what made _me_ so worthy of such consideration," Destiny sarcastically commented.

"Mistake or deliberate attempt to save a fragment of your memory. Maybe we can save this topic for another day."

Destiny tilted her head. "An elegant way to shove me out of the door?"

Rush smirked. "Would I ever do such a thing?"

"You better not expect an honest answer from me," replied Destiny, returning the smile. The woman lowered her eyes for a second, sighing, and then looked again at the scientist with all the gratitude she could muster.

"Thank you for this conversation, Nicholas," she said, "I needed it."

Destiny using his name caught Rush a little off guard; no one, except maybe Wray, called him like that by his name and usually he was the first to correct whoever tried to address him that way. He perfectly well that that was one of the things that made him seem like knew that helped building his reputation of a cold, distant bastard, but he never cared enough to change.

"Anytime, Destiny," he replied, and for once his smile had no traces of irony or sarcasm. Destiny that day had just shown him how much she trusted him and his judgment, and once again he felt like he saw something of her the others wouldn't ever get the chance to see, like the two of them were building a relationship that no one else on the ship would ever understand. Destiny was just about to leave the lab when Young called Rush via with the radio and summoned him to the Gate Room. He sounded tense, like he always did when Telford was around, and Rush guessed that little visit had a lot to do with the IOA plan that he had to sabotage, and the too quick progresses the people had made in repairing the ship and make it habitable again.

"He knows that something weird is going on, but he can't say what," Rush commented to Destiny on his way to the Gate room.

"From what I've heard, he's too much of a rationale a man to actually believe in sentient spaceships."

"From what you heard? And tell me, what else did you hear about Colonel Telford?"

"Enough to know I don't want him in charge," replied Destiny. "The colonel is underestimating Telford's leadership ambitions, though. He needs someone to watch his back, otherwise this situation could end up badly."

"You already know what I think about Colonel Young's leadership."

"Yes, I do. But considering the options, you of all people should want him to stay in charge of the mission. And keeping me hidden won't help."

"You think the truth will come out."

"Of course it will, it's just a matter of how and when," said Destiny, stopping behind a corner. "Well, we'll think of something. Go, now, the colonel and his guest are waiting for you" she added, waiting for Rush to turn the corner and reach Young in the gate room. But the scientist didn't move, and kept looking at Destiny with a weird light in his eyes. The kind of look that meant trouble.

"Oh for the Ancestors' sake," Destiny hissed. "You think I should go introduce myself!"

"You said it yourself, it's only a matter of time."

"Here's a thing I didn't say: I don't have a death wish."

"No. What you do have is a talent for quick thinking and battle strategy. I suggest you use it."

Destiny wasn't stupid; she knew Rush was trying to manipulate her into doing his bidding, in another attempt to get Young to step aside. Telford could've reported Young as unreliable and not to be trusted, and he would easily (and literally) replace him on board. It was fast becoming another obsession of him, and Destiny took a mental note to try and put a stop to this nonsense. The crew was finally getting used to their new tasks and the new hierarchy structure; Rush wouldn't ruin all the work Young and she had done.

On the other hand, she was tempted by Rush's suggestion. That way, she would be the one with the tactical advantage of surprise. And she was a firm believer that the attacking was the best defense. But Telford had to go back to Earth convinced beyond any reasonable doubt she was the most reliable ally his people ever had, could she really do that in so little time and with no preparation at all?

Destiny closed her eyes, banged her head against the wall and took a deep breath. She didn't see it, but she knew Rush was smiling in victory.

But if it that thing went wrong, Destiny swore she would've delivered his head to Colonel Young herself.

* * *

_Young's expression when Destiny appears on the threshold is a mixture of surprise, fear and rage. He probably wants to tell her to go away and stay hidden, but Lieutenant Scott notices immediately Young's reaction immediately. Scott turns, he gives her an hard look and the way he frowns looks somehow out of place on his face. For a second he stays silent, probably trying to remember who she is, but when he realizes he can't link her face to a name in the ship manifest he has back on Earth, the confusion leaves place to an expression that in Destiny's opinion almost matches Colonel Young's._

_Before Telford could say something, or Young tried to explain who she is, Destiny puts on her most innocent face and begins to talk, making it sound like she had executed an order from Young and was waiting for more instructions. It takes Young a couple of seconds to realize her true intentions, but she can tell he's going to give her a lot of grief for this, for acting without consulting him first. At the moment, though, Destiny doesn't care. She acts like she never openly challenged Young's authority on board, like she accepted him as a leader without a fight. This loyalty gets Telford's attention, as Destiny planned. _

_Another thing Destiny believes is that your enemy's friend can make an excellent ally, and apparently, so does the colonel. When he asks her to show him all the improvements made to the ship, Destiny can tell Young is close to an heart attack. Destiny would love to tell him she knows what she's doing, but she can't break her act. She respectfully asks for dismissal, and Young just gives her a nod in reply._

_Telford waits until they're alone in the engine room to start talking about more serious matters. Does Destiny know about how an ill-advised decision from Young cost the lives of three soldiers under his command? Does she know he resigned from being an off-world team leader because he didn't want to take hard decisions like that anymore? Does she know he is an unfaithful husband that ambushed him and punched him in the face for just trying to tell Emily the truth? And, the most important thing of all, does she know he's her designed commander, thus she should respect his orders more than Young's? _

_Destiny would love to tell Telford that spending just half an hour together makes _her _want to punch him in the face too, but that would mean hurting Scott in the process, and Destiny doesn't want that. Deep down, she's grateful for this talk, though. She had always suspected Young had a reason to act like he does, and now she knows why. And she doesn't exactly care about the infidelity issue, mostly because back in the day it was pretty common for ship captains to start an affair while they were away, and most of the times with one of her sisters. In Young's case, Destiny suspects the other woman is TJ. The medic still gazes at Young when he's not looking, and sometimes he does the same with her. Whatever happened between them, it ended badly, and TJ is still suffering because of that, even if she is doing a remarkable job hiding it. _

_The other thing Destiny realizes is that Telford, after the initial shock, doesn't seem to understand who she really is. He seems to consider her more as like some kind of maintenance system than a true sentient creature, and the patronizing tone he's using is something Young dropped very, very quickly because he realized how much it irked her. He thinks she's a child that can be influenced, and for the time being, Destiny decides she will let him believe it. She resumes her tour, she shows him the greenhouse and the infirmary and all the time she keeps describing Young as a capable leader that never talked about her because he was still testing her loyalty and skills and wanted to be certain she could be trusted before informing Telford and his superiors of her existence._

_Telford doesn't seem to get the message, he already has an opinion about her and he's not likely to change it soon. What Destiny hopes, though, is that at least she will serve as a reliable messenger._

_She doesn't have to convince the entire Homeworld Security of her good intentions._

_She needs to convince just one man._

* * *

Like Destiny expected, Young was beyond rage by the time she came back in the Gate room after Telford's departure. Scott had no idea why the colonel ordered him to take Destiny there, but he sure sounded angry.

"Okay, Dee… what did I miss when I was on Earth?"

"Me disobeying Colonel Young's non-spoken order and introducing myself to Telford. I think he's reporting the news to General O'Neill as we speak."

"Wha…? Are you out of your mind?"

"Probably. But it had to be done."

"You sound like Rush."

"I can't deny it was Rush that gave me the idea, but the plan is mine… and hopefully, the colonel will admit it is a good one, once he's calmed down."

But the colonel wasn't exactly prone to calm down. Quite the opposite. He gave Destiny a stern look and then asked Scott to leave them, and gather Wray, Rush and TJ in Young's office.

"We'll join you after we're done here."

"Yes, sir," replied Scott, and went out of the room, closing the door. The two of them gazed at each other of a few minutes in perfect silence before Destiny decided to break the ice herself.

"I know you're mad at me. But I won't apologize, not this time."

"Destiny, I saw you walk in here like it was the most normal thing in the world after we decided it was best to keep you a secret. Mad is an understatement."

"I analyzed the situation and decided it was too much of a risk to keep doing it. They know about me now, and Telford himself cannot say anything bad about me. I've been very careful with words. I didn't mention the Asurans or Replicators once."

Young's eyes widened slightly at the mention of those names, and asked Destiny how she knew them.

"You didn't want to tell me, so I found someone who did."

Young shook his head, wishing he could say he was surprised."Rush. Of course. This was his idea, right?"

"Yes, he tried to manipulate me, but it was my decision to reveal myself. Rush doesn't have that power over me. And as much as you want to be angry at me, sir, you can't deny that if Telford had said something potentially dangerous for you and me… well, we wouldn't be here having this conversation right now."

"You spend too much time around Rush, Destiny. He cannot be trusted."

"But he told me the truth about those machines you had to fight in the Milky Way and the Pegasus galaxy," retorted Destiny. "I know he did. And believe it or not, he contained the situation pretty well."

"Because he wants you on his side."

"But I swore to be loyal to you. I told you I have to play for both sides, remember? But you don't have to question my actions. Never. Whatever I do, I do it because I believe it's necessary to keep you in charge, and it's what I'm also going to say to Camille Wray and the others."

Young folded his arms. "And what makes you think things will go as you planned?"

"Do you know what Garim loved to tell repeat me? If someone one day gets up with the idea of killing you, get up earlier, and kill him first. At the moment Telford doesn't have any proof that you're unfit for this command, except his own doubts. I took really good care of that. No one has ever been dismissed because of a doubt."

"Maybe. But here's a fact: General O'Neill doesn't trust sentient machines."

"But he's a very curious man. You don't lead thousands of missions through the Stargate if you're not. And I really hope he got my open invitation."

"The invit…? You used Telford's report to get the general here?"

"I'm confident someone as uptight as Telford has reported every second of our conversation, plus a detailed description of my actions and behavior."

"You can count on that."

"It's O'Neill I have to get on my side. I'm not a Replicator and certainly not an Asuran. He must understand the difference between me and them."

Young shook his head again. " I don't know. This is dangerous, Destiny."

"No, Colonel," replied Destiny, smiling. "It's a leap of faith. And it's time for us to take another one."


	8. Unexpected

"_From the second we got on this ship, they've been the ones calling all the shots_," said Wray. "_what we eat, where we sleep, what we do and when. And we just sit back and let them_."

Destiny put one hand on Eli's chair, in his little lab. She narrowed her eyes while watching the Kino recording playing in front of her. Unlike her, Young just kept watching the footage with an unreadable face.

"_Yeah. They're the ones with the guns_."

She couldn't see him, but Destiny recognized Volker's voice. Along with Franklin was one of the civilians that felt uncomfortable in letting the military in charge of everything, but she never imagined he would actually make a stand against Young.

"_Yeah. I mean, we have every right to be afraid. Especially with Destiny acting as Young's attack dog_."

Both Young and Eli turned slightly to watch Destiny's reaction, but Destiny limited to raise an eyebrow and wonder if she should feel pleased or majorly pissed by Wray's comment. She thought that giving her the master code would keep her satisfied for a little longer, but apparently she had underestimated that woman's ambition.

"I've seen enough, Eli, thank you," said Destiny, squeezing lightly her friend's shoulder and taking a deep breath right after. She then looked at Young with a serious expression.

"I think you're underestimating the situation, sir. Look, I get there are still many things I don't know about Homeworld Security and the IOA role in this mission, but from what I understand, she can be a problem."

"She's not that dangerous."

Destiny raised an eyebrow and looked straight at Eli. The young man frowned for a couple of seconds before realizing Destiny was actually waiting for him to give her his opinion.

"What?" he exclaimed. "No. Leave me out of this, Dee, please."

"You watch the Kino recordings all the time, Eli," insisted Destiny. "You must have an opinion on the matter. Whatever it is, say it."

Eli sighed, and shot a dubious look to Destiny and Young, unsure if he really could speak his mind freely.

"People have been talking a lot about this stuff, lately," he admitted in the end. "I don't think this is the first time Wray does something like this."

Eli lowered his eyes, and Destiny and Young exchanged another look. The Colonel motioned with his head to follow him outside, and Destiny nodded in response.

"Well… thanks for the help, Eli," said Destiny. "I'll leave you to your work. So, what do you think about the new lab? Do you like it?"

Eli gave Destiny the first, true smile of the day. "I _love_ it. Wish I could say thanks to Prya for this. She must've been really cool!"

"Among other things," commented Destiny with a little affectionate smile. "See you later, Eli."

Eli nodded and gave her a quick wave of his hand as salute. Destiny kept her smile until she reached Young in the corridor, and then she began talking with her commander about what was the best thing to do.

"If Wray is really seeding distrust within the crew, we must do something about it, sir. Now. We worked hard to get to this point, I refuse to believe it was all for nothing."

"Anything we could do to fight it could be read as an attack to the civilians."

"But we can't do anything either," said Destiny, stopping in the middle of the corridor and watching for Kinos in sight before getting closer to Young.

"As far as we can tell, there's nothing decided yet," she said in a lower voice. "Maybe I can talk to Wray and a few other people, try to see if I can convince them to end this nonsense before someone gets hurt."

Young frowned, knowing exactly what Destiny meant. He let out a bitter chuckle.

"And you think you can convince Rush to support you."

"I'm confident Doctor Brown, Chloe, and the people close to them will support me, but it might not be enough. And for being such an arrogant man, Rush is respected among the other civilians. He knows many things about the ship."

"Because _you_ decided to tell him."

"What's the point of denying him this knowledge? He's the only one that actually knows what to do around here, without me telling him all the time. If he'll decide to stay on our side, the others will follow."

"Okay, fine. Try. But don't get your hopes up. The only one Rush trusts is Rush."

"I'll keep it in mind. Changing topic, Colonel… have you heard anything from Homeworld Command, lately?"

Young smiled at Destiny's nervousness. "Nothing you should worry about, Destiny. Like you said, if the General wanted to act against us, he would've done it already. It's been two weeks, I think you can relax now."

"I just feel something's off," she insisted. "I don't know what exactly, but…"

"Dee," said Young, placing both hands on her shoulders and looking straight in her eyes, "_Relax_. Please. There's no need to complicate uncomplicated matters. I think our plate is already full as it is, don't you think?"

Destiny smiled and nodded. "Of course. Sorry, sir."

Young returned the smile, and let Destiny go.

"Alright, then. Do what you believe is necessary, and then report to me. If there's a mutiny brewing, then I want to know who I can trust."

* * *

_Destiny watches her captain walking away, and nervously bites her lower lip. The last time she had to face a civilian rebellion, the situation didn't end good. The two factions – the military and the small community of scientists and civilians that joined them for the mission – decided after that they couldn't live together, and for years they lived in separate sectors of the ship, with limited interactions except in the areas of common interest, controlled by both the civilians and military. _

_The crisis solved itself with time, but only because her captain and the civilian representative never let their guard down and worked to get things back to normal. That was why she distributed the ship's resources the way she did, she hoped to prevent this to happen. Clearly, she was wrong. And Wray wasn't Eris, the civilian representative she had to deal with at the time. Strong-willed and __a__ firm believer in democracy, but also extremely pragmatic when needed. The perfect match for her former commander, in more ways than one._

_Rush is the pragmatist in her crew now. Chloe and her mediating skills has become the voice of reason among the civilians. Katie Brown was well-liked by everyone onboard, but she could hold her ground in a discussion without problems. Same went for Eli, give or take. Eli, Chloe, Katie and their friends will follow her and Young, Destiny is sure of that. Park, Brody, Volker, Franklin and the scientists will follow Rush, their de-facto leader. But what about the others?_

_When she meets her friends for an innocent cup of green tea, she doesn't even have to ask: Katie and Chloe are more than willing to help her contain this situation, and Eli keeps her posted on everything, even if he doesn't like to use his Kinos to spy on people. Wray keeps meeting people in the hydroponics lab, and Destiny cannot pretend to know nothing about it anymore. She just hopes she's convincing more people than the ones Wray is bringing to her side._

* * *

"Are you going to make an habit out of this? I sincerely hope not," said Rush, giving Destiny – who was leaning against the threshold of the lab, like every time she showed up there for a talk – a very annoyed look. Destiny just smiled a little, but didn't move.

"Annoy the lead scientist to death. Yeah, consider it another of my tasks."

Rush didn't miss the sarcastic joke, and cracked a little smile in response. Destiny got away from the door, and closed it behind her. She then moved closer to the scientist, who immediately realized something was wrong.

"What's the problem, Destiny?"

"Nicholas, I need your help. I think I'll have to deal with a mutiny very, very soon."

Rush frowned. "And what makes you think that?"

"Wray wants Young's position. She's working to convince people she's a better option than him, but she's not the right person for this job."

"And Young is?"

Destiny sighed, and leaned her back against the console to stand right next to Rush.

"Young is improving, and he's my commanding officer. He's also the official leader of this mission."

"He was Icarus base's commanding officer, Destiny. No one put him in charge of the ship."

"The orders never changed. Just the place."

"So you're completely fine with this… how can I define it? Military dictatorial regime?"

"That's overdramatic, even for you," replied Destiny, raising the eyes skywards for a second. "We need a leader, and a civilian leadership in an uncharted territory is out of question. It's just too dangerous. If we were in Pegasus, or in the galaxy I visited before your coming, things would be different… but we are not, are we?"

"We have detailed maps of this sector," insisted Rush. "We also have that subspace link with the other ships…"

"The subspace link helps me only when I have to trace the route, if I get off track. Everything else I find through the milestones."

"Milestones?"

"Beacons left behind by my sisters along the way," explained Destiny. "Every few decades they left one behind them, so to make things easier for the sisters right behind them. I'm the last one on this path, so technically I'm also the one with more information. That's why I can tell you without a doubt that a civilian government onboard this ship right now would be a truly bad idea. I need your help, Nicholas. This situation must end before it gets worse. I won't deal with another mutiny, I just won't."

Rush raised an eyebrow, suddenly more interested in the conversation.

"_Another_ mutiny?"

Destiny bit her lip again. "I might have omitted something when I showed everything to Young, but I did it in good faith, I swear. We had a civilian contingent onboard, one hundred people between civilians and scientists, plus one representative to defend their interests. Eris, that was her name, was accused after a while to be too much on Janek's side, and this created a rift between civilians and military and between the civilians themselves. Another leader rose, a friend of Janek's**.** When the civilians decided to choose a new leader through a majority vote, they chose him over Eris, and three days later he tried to take over the ship."

"And things didn't go as you planned."

"In a nutshell," Destiny replied dryly. Safir was a former soldier, he knew his way around warships, and how to train his followers. Destiny managed to save Janek and Eris – the only two leaders she recognized – along with their supporters, but she got caught by Safir himself before she could join them on the shuttle.

"He almost executed me on the commanding bridge to push Janek and Eris out of hiding. I had my revenge, though."

"Did you kill him?"

"No," said Destiny, smirking, "something worse, at least for him. After what happened with my second commander I swore that no one would ever lay a finger on me again. He tried, so I kicked his ass and showed him who was in charge of the ship. His face when I was done with him… priceless."

"Excuse me?"

"After the download," explained Destiny, "we are given a basic training, but nothing like the training meant for Ancient soldiers, especially the one received by the members of the oldest families. Garim, my first commander, made his son and nephew swear to train me like he did them the moment I had a body. He was a firm believer in tradition, and teaching the old fighting techniques was part of that. He wanted his family to be ready for everything."

"Including you."

Destiny smiled. "Something like that, yes. That time solved the crisis by marooning the most dangerous mutineers, but this time it won't be an option. You arrived here to escape a deadly situation, I won't deliberately put a good part of you in another."

"And what happened with the others?"

"Years of cold war, before we could find a way to work together again. It was bad, Nicholas. I won't deal with that all over again."

"You won't have to. I agree with you, this situation must end and in the less painful way possible for both parts."

"I'm very glad to hear it."

"We'll find a solution, Destiny. One way or another."

Destiny nodded, happy that Rush and she were on the same page. It was like they were finally starting to become friends, one little step after another. Young was her commander and she owed him respect, but Rush was more of a kindred spirit. Someone she felt drawn to, for some unknown reason. Destiny was so sure to have Rush on her side, that when Eli asked her over the radio to stop by his lab because he had something for her she didn't even think it could be something related to the scientist.

When she saw the Kino footage of Wray and Rush in the hydroponics lab, though, Destiny had to realize how wrong she was.

"How old is this footage, Eli?" she asked, after Eli stopped the recording.

"Couple hours, at best… why?"

Just a couple of hours, so it happened before she went to speak with him and after she reported to Young that the situation was still under control. He deliberately lied to her face.

Destiny slowly clenched her fists, fighting the rage growing inside of her. "Thank you, Eli," she whispered, her voice emotionless. "I know exactly what to do now."

Eli looked at her and swallowed nervously. It had been a very long time since Destiny had that look in her eyes, and this time she looked ready to kill someone. Namely, Doctor Rush. Eli knew the two of them had become closer in the last weeks, often discussing Ancient technology or any Ancient-related topic that came into their minds. Rush even smiled twice during one of their games, something close to a miracle according to Eli. Destiny seemed to have given the scientist the same level of trust she had given him from the start, but now she looked like she was clearly regretting that moment of weakness.

"All hands, brace for turbulence," he sarcastically commented, and then resumed working.

* * *

_Destiny is so angry right now she could probably kill a man with her bare hands, but she can't help but admit that Rush did a very good job with her. She didn't even notice she was getting played. Destiny knows she should inform Young of this new development, but her wounded pride screams for revenge against Rush, and she's more than inclined to ignore reason and let emotions rule her one more time._

_So Destiny waits. She does nothing when Rush takes control of all the ship's systems, or when Rush and Wray proclaim they're now in charge of the ship. Young wants to use the force to get things back to normal, but Destiny asks to have a word with the mutineers first. If she can't solve the situation diplomatically, Young can send in his soldiers._

_Destiny has to do a serious effort and not to laugh at the civilians' shocked expressions when they find her in their territory, but as she reminds them, no one keep her out of _anything_ on her own ship, core systems included. A few closed doors are just a minor nuisance._

"_So your little stunt? Pointless," she comments. Wray ignores her and resumes her speech, explaining her people how the military should be receiving orders from them and not the other way around. She even mentions the government back on Earth, and Destiny can't help but chuckle at that point. _

"_What's so funny, Destiny?" she asks. Destiny shakes her head, still smiling, and gives a good look to the crew. They look confused. Rush, on the other hand, is the picture of calm. Destiny ignores him, though, and gives her attention to Wray, the official leader of the rebellion._

"_I can't say you're wrong. The only way to keep the military under control is to have a civilian government watching over them and their actions. But, as you just reminded us, we already have a legitimate civilian government, the one that's on planet Earth. And if I remember correctly, General O'Neill put Colonel Young in charge of this expedition."_

"_This is not the point…"_

"_I think it is. You proclaimed yourself leader of this faction in name of your position back on Earth, right?"_

"_I'm the civilian representative. And as you well know, it wouldn't be the first time an IOA member gets to lead an expedition in another galaxy."_

"_Of course. I've heard many things about late Doctor Elizabeth Weir and Mr. Richard Woolsey. I've also heard of their conduit… they knew what was better for Atlantis and their people and acted consequently, even going against the rules sometimes. Two true leaders."_

"_Exactly. Civilian leaders that did a better job than the military."_

"_Living in the same galaxy for years and __traveling __through the universe are two very different things, Ms. Wray. The range of possible threats is _endless_. By the Ancestors, even with all the information _I_ gather from my sisters, every day for me is a damn step into the unknown. What makes you think you could deal with this better than me and Young?"_

"_Young's judgment is questioned," interrupts Rush. "Not yours. We would be glad if you joined us."_

"_Unfortunately, Doctor, I respect Young too much to betray his trust like this. I've been ordered to follow him, and that's what I'm going to do."_

"_Except for that one time," comments Wray. "Right, Destiny?"_

_Wray's subtle mention of Destiny's rebellion against Haldran is enough to make Destiny very, very angry. Young is not perfect, but he's not a monster. He's trying his hardest to make things work, while the only thing Destiny remembers seeing Wray do is complaining about how hard life onboard is. She silently walks until she's just a few inches away from the woman. Destiny is tall, and looks menacing. Wray shivers._

"_I will say this just once. Don't mention that man in front of me ever again," she hisses in her coldest, hardest voice, and Wray slowly nods. She mutters an apology, but Destiny is not interested. She takes a deep breath, and this time talks to all the civilians._

"_Let's see if I've understood this situation. You want to create a civilian government onboard this ship. Correct?"_

"_Yes," replies Brody, and Destiny continues._

"_With Wray and Rush as designated leaders, and the military under your command?"_

"_That's what we ask," says Volker. _

"_Good. Then if we're going to ignore Earth's leadership, in order to have a true government aboard this ship its members should be chosen by the entire crew with regular elections. That's what democracy is all about, right? Freedom of choice."_

"_The civilians already chose me as their leader," Wray points out._

"_I wouldn't use that word, Ms. Wray, considering the lack of alternatives. In fact, this statement makes you sound closer to a dictator than a democratic leader. Not exactly how the Atlantis leaders used to run things, right?" _

"_We'll discuss democracy and its ramifications as soon as this situation is over," comments Rush. "There's nothing defined yet."_

"_This situation is already over, Rush," says Destiny, and she slowly walks until she's inches away from the scientist. _

"_Well done, really. Hiding behind Wray… brilliant move. I didn't even realize you were just playing me. How long you've been planning this coup? And most important question… was it worth it?"_

_Wray protests, reclaiming her key role in the mutiny, but Destiny just ignores the bureaucrat, giving her full attention only to Rush. Rush sighs and looks away for a second, but he doesn't look guilty or sorry. Destiny thinks he probably doesn't even know what those feelings are. _

"_And now I'll have to tell Young he was right about you, to consider you a real threat. Can you imagine __what it is__ like for me to admit I'm wrong? Wray is ambitious and feels frustrated by her lack of decisional power. She's the perfect decoy. But neither of you is cut to be the leader of this crew, and it's time you begin to accept it."_

"_Just because you swore loyalty to Young, it doesn't mean we have to do it as well," says Wray. _

"_Exactly. What did Young do to justify a mutiny?"_

"_The military controls all the water and the food!" shouts one of the civilians._

"_Rationing is just a show of common sense. But the greenhouse is under civilian control, right Doctor Franklin?"asks Destiny. Franklin doesn't raise his eyes from the floor. _

"_We have no freedom!"_

"_I'm not that familiar yet with your laws, but are you free to do whatever comes into your minds back on Earth? Because rules are necessary, especially in outer space. There's no room for mistakes here."_

"_Is this what you told your civilians during the mutiny?"_

_Destiny closes her eyes, and smiles. She wishes she could be surprised, but she really isn't. Of course he would use that information against her. Well, fine, she says to herself. War it is._

"_What mutiny? What the hell is he talking about?" asks Wray._

"_You didn't show us everything, did you?" says Franklin, and Destiny tries her best not to groan._

"_No, I didn't. Your minds would've never recovered if I did. And it wasn't relevant at the moment… I guess it is now."_

"_Things weren't as nice as you depicted them, then."_

"_No," says Destiny, and the urge to punch Rush is getting stronger by the second. "You want to know why? Because the civilian leader was a royal nuisance that never lost a chance to challenge Janek's authority. Soldiers hated her, but the civilians worshipped the floor she walked on. And when the mutiny happened, she led the charge with them and the other civilians and retook the ship. She won the respect of many people that day, mine included. She chose her battles carefully, and was ready to compromise when she couldn't win. Something, I'm afraid to say, neither of you is particularly good at."_

_Destiny gives her a brief look, and then resumes talking with Rush._

"_Speaking of compromises, if you would have to choose again between science and the crew, Doctor, would you actually go for the latter option? The last time, on Icarus base, it didn't happen, if I recall correctly. And the more I know you, the more I suspect it could happen again. We're not playing chess on the observation deck, Doctor. We're not disposable pawns in your hands to play with. My job is to keep each and every one of you alive, and I swear on my sisters' memory, I'll do it no matter what."_

_It's a low blow, reminding everyone that their situation is Rush's fault, but as she has just said, she'll do her job no matter what. And she can already see it, the civilians are not the united front they were just a few moments before. They look more confused, some of them are discussing Destiny's speech and her accusation towards Rush and Wray. A few even say aloud that they didn't believe in the mutiny but merely tagged along because they feared repercussions._

_Wray shakes her head, speechless, and Destiny imagines she's thinking that bringing Rush into her plan turned out to be the biggest mistake she could make. She was so sure of succeeding that she didn't stop considering the consequences of a possible failure. And to her, the stern look Young gives her when he enters the room with his soldiers feels like the worst has yet to come._

_Destiny feels satisfied. She never exactly liked Wray, and now she's sure she won't give any trouble for a very long while. But she can't feel the same happiness or satisfaction when she thinks of Rush. Destiny thought that getting revenge on him would help her feel better, but now she actually feels worse. Rush's betrayal hurt her more than she's willing to admit. She can't focus on anything else but that._

_That's probably why she doesn't see anything wrong or weird when Doctor Caine asks to talk to her in private about what happened. Destiny just wants to relax and stop thinking about Nicholas Rush, and the fact Doctor Caine never looked for her company before doesn't even seem weird to her._

_But his way of arching his eyebrows and making sarcastic remarks about that situation is. That was something Caine never did, not in that way. And somehow, it feels awfully familiar to Destiny, even if she can't say why._

_Then Destiny recalls the last time the crew did what they called 'Game night', and especially Brody's wicked impressions of some SGC and IOA's key members. Even Wray had to admit his impression of her boss, Mr. Strom, was quite accurate. But the best one, according to everyone, was the one he did for last, when Young wasn't around…_

_Destiny smiles, glad that at least one thing went according to the plan up there._

_She has been waiting for that conversation to happen for two weeks, and now she can't wait to hear what General O'Neill wants to tell her._


	9. Aftermath

When Jack O'Neill first heard Colonel Telford's report about the AI controlling Destiny and her human-looking avatar, his first impulse was to send him back and order Young to confine Destiny in a cell. His experience with Replicators taught him that there was no such thing as a reliable artificial life form, but in the end the General did nothing… and it was all Doctor Jackson's fault.

Daniel had happened to be near his office when Telford came back from Destiny, and when he heard the name of the ship from the Colonel he immediately asked if the girl looked in her late twenties, had long brown hair and deep brown eyes. When an astonished Telford replied that Destiny in fact looked exactly like that, Jack realized that maybe the situation was more complicated than he first thought. Daniel didn't know how he knew all those details about the avatar, but he couldn't help associate the name Destiny to that face, and some further digging brought the scientist to theorize he had probably visited Destiny when he was an ascended being, or that at least he had gained his knowledge in that period.

Jack now didn't know what to do. His friend seemed to believe Destiny wasn't dangerous and he had grown to trust Daniel's instinct over the years, but he couldn't ignore his instinct and Telford's report either. Doctor Caine's scheduled visit to his ailing mother couldn't happen in a more suitable moment. Caine had asked for a two-day leave a week earlier, and when he used the stones to reach Earth, the General's consciousness was transferred immediately on the ship. Once there, he realized he had chosen the perfect moment for an unannounced visit when the day after his arrival the civilians rose against Young and the military. He just stayed silent and followed the civilians, curious to see how the situation would evolve and certain that Young and his soldiers would put an end to that rebellion very soon. He didn't expect Young to send Destiny herself to deal with the mutineers.

Jack kept his eyes on Destiny the whole time and listened to her speech. That creature looked and sounded so human it was impossible to believe she wasn't, and with a few well-chosen words planted more than a seed of doubt in the minds of Wray and Rush's supporters. What really caught Jack's attention, though, was the speech she delivered to Rush. Destiny looked furious and hurt, like that situation was more of a personal matter than a political one. Rush didn't show any kind of emotion, but Jack had the distinctive feeling that Destiny's words got to him more than he was ever willing to admit.

Approaching Destiny was way easier than he thought. She just wanted to get the hell away from that situation, so she didn't even ask why 'Doctor Caine' was so eager to talk to her. Jack just made some random remarks about the mutiny and life on board, but Destiny didn't seem in the mood for talking, even if she was clearly making an effort to listen to him. By the time they reached what Destiny defined 'a place where they could talk in private' – the engine room – Jack had some serious trouble considering her a machine. She just looked a highly stressed woman in a serious need of a drink, not an AI that probably remembered what the dinosaurs on Earth really looked like. As if she'd read his mind, Destiny told him to wait a moment and unscrewed the grate of an air duct, taking out a bottle of self-made moonshine.

"This ship was famous for three things back in the day: one, it was an unofficial belonging of Garim Sar's family. Two, it never faced a battle it couldn't win. And three… our last doctor brewed the best alcohol in the fleet, and her still is still working properly. TJ doesn't want to honor the tradition, though… good thing I learned how to use it from Tamra, the Ancient doctor, and that Brody is a damn good student," she added with a smile, before taking a long sip directly from the bottle. She coughed slightly soon after and squeezed her eyes.

"Careful, it's really strong," she said before passing the bottle to Jack. Jack, torn between the desire to taste Brody's moonshine and the knowledge that Caine didn't drink alcohol, limited to sniff the bottle.

"Thanks, I'll pass. Fumes alone are strong enough to knock someone out cold."

"Stuff's not enough to get me drunk, though. Damn nanites take care of the alcohol way before it could serve its purpose," snorted Destiny.

"Forced to be clean and sober for eternity doesn't seem fun."

"Not when everyone around me _can_. Doesn't stop me from trying, anyway, especially after a very, very long day."

Jack sighed. That was the perfect moment to start talking about more serious matters.

"Destiny, listen…"

"Yes, _General O'Neill_?"

For a second Jack feared he was going to drop the bottle on the floor.

"Sorry?"

Destiny smiled, and took the bottle from him, taking another drink before placing it on a metal crate nearby.

"I wasn't sure of your identity until I saw a few of your facial expressions, but now I am. That thing with the eyebrows is pretty telling, sir."

Jack frowned. "Wha-What thing?"

Destiny bit her lower lip to hide a smile. "That thing you're doing right now. There's someone on board that makes a really good impression of you."

Jack raised an eyebrow, and Destiny bit her lip harder. "Then I can't wait to meet him."

"Not a chance, sir. I value the lives of my crew."

"Your crew, huh? Interesting."

"Yes, my crew. May I ask you why it took you so long to come here and meet me?" Destiny bluntly asked.

"You don't lose time, I see."

"This is not an official meeting, so let's leave protocol for your next visit. It's been two weeks, and from what I know about you, I find very weird that you didn't order me to be imprisoned or tossed out of an airlock immediately, especially considering your past experiences with Replicators."

"And Asurans. Don't forget the Asurans."

"Asurans are so beneath me I don't even want to speak their name," hissed Destiny. "Replicators too."

"Interesting. Why?"

"I'm not a machine like them. I'm made of bones, flesh and blood, exactly like you. I've an heartbeat. I breathe. I get hurt and I can be killed, even if it's very difficult. I _feel_. The only difference between you and me are the nanites in my body."

"Someone would say it's a big enough of a difference not to trust you."

"True. But what about you?"

Jack sighed, trying to find the right words. "You're certainly not what I was expecting to find. Telford defined you as just a maintenance worker, but I suspect you already knew that."

"I knew that sooner or later you'd come here to see me with your own eyes. You just needed a reason. Telford served that purpose."

"You don't seem to like him."

"His actions almost destroyed the ship and killed me and my crew, and he never loses a chance to belittle my commander. Of course I don't like him."

"But you do like Colonel Young and the others."

"We had to work on that. A lot. It wasn't easy, for either of us."

Jack walled to the crate, moved the bottle, and sat on top of it. "It sounds like an interesting and long story. Let's hear it."

Destiny lowered her eyes for a second, then she began telling the General not the version she had given Colonel Telford, but what had really happened when her crew arrived aboard, in other words her attempt at killing them all, her change of heart due to her encounter with Eli, the discovery of her avatar and the difficult months spent adjusting to their presence on board after her ascended commander forced her to swore loyalty to Young.

"I hated him for that," said Destiny. "I thought I earned the right to decide for myself after centuries spent on my own, but as Janek pointed out, I was acting like a spoiled child that didn't get what she wanted. Things only got better after that. You need to know I would die to protect them now. I would never hurt my crew. They need me as much as I need them."

Jack didn't say a word, still thinking about what Destiny had just told him. "The story you and Young told Colonel Telford is a bit different."

"Telford wants my captain's place, sir," explained Destiny. "I did what I had to do to keep him in charge."

"And to get me here," added the General.

"I killed two birds with one stone," shrugged Destiny.

"Why tell me the truth? Why now?"

"Lies bring nowhere," replied Destiny, serious again. "My captain wanted to protect me, and I'm grateful for this, but I'm the one supposed to protect him and not the other way around."

"Even if you've just given me a good reason to lock you up?"

Destiny smiled. "A few months ago, my crew would have loved nothing more than tossing me out of an airlock and be done with me. The feeling was mutual, as you know. But the truth was that they were scared of me, and I was unleashing all my anger and pain on them, even if they did nothing to me."

"And now, you're not angry anymore."

"I was angry at the Ancients, for discarding me and my sisters like we were nothing. It's not your fault you had no idea that nine-chevron address would take you here."

"Yeah, a big 'Beware of the moody, too human-like AI inhabiting the ship' alert would've been nice," said Jack, and Destiny cracked a little smile. Maybe things weren't going so bad after all.

"Destiny, listen. I have really nothing against you, and I've seen it, you're good at your job. But what assurance do I have you won't get crazy again and try to kill these people again?"

"I took an oath. I'll never hurt them again."

"I'm afraid your word is not enough."

Destiny sighed. Damn it. If only she could give the General a tangible proof of who she was and what she was able to do…

_Wait. Maybe I can_, thought Destiny with a smile. Maybe she could earn the General's trust for good and secure her position on the ship once and for all.

"I know there was no information about me or the other sentient ships in the Atlantis database… but if there was one thing the Ancients were good at, was storing huge amounts of information."

"I can't bring your database with me, Destiny."

"What about another one, then? One that it's already in the Milky Way? Back then we had this data-storing system that…"

"No. No way in hell. I've had my head sucked by those damn repository of knowledge twice, I won't do it again! Did I mention? I almost died because of them. Twice!"

Destiny frowned. "Repository of _what_? General, I don't even know what you're talking about."

"You… don't?"

Destiny shook her head. "Never heard of them. It's not a technology I'm familiar with."

"Well, good for you."

"What I was talking about was a database like the one I have aboard… but you clearly never found it."

"What database?"

Destiny sighed. "In my time, in the galaxy existed various ship anchorages. We used them during wartime and they were a mandatory stop before leaving the galaxy. I'm talking about places filled to the roof with weapons, preserved food, spare parts… anything we could need. They also worked as information-storing facilities. Anything the Ancients did since the arrival in the galaxy. Politics. Inventions. Projects. Reports on the colonized planets. And detailed reports me and my sisters, what we did, our strengths and weaknesses…"

"Sweet. How is it that we never found one of this anchorages?"

"They're well hidden and accessible only dialing a nine-chevron address… and you found only mine. But I do have _all_their addresses."

"What's the one with the best probability to be still in one piece, then? I don't know if you've heard, but we had our hands full in the last decades. Goa'uld, Replicators, Ori…"

"Then Kila is the right place. You can't find it unless you know its exact position… and I've no reason to believe any of your enemies had that knowledge. I stopped there before leaving the galaxy, I can tell you how to reach it, through the Stargate or with one of your ships."

"Sounds like a trip made for Daniel and good old SG-1," commented Jack while getting back on his feet. "Show me the address, and I'll do my best to remember it."

"I'll do something better, if you allow me," smiled the woman, and she gently touched Jack's temples with both hands.

"Oh, for cryin' out loud! Did you head a word about what I said?"

"This way, your mind won't forget it."

"Is there any other way?"

"Not as good as this one. Sir, I won't hurt you or Doctor Caine. Trust me."

"Oh no," moaned Jack, "here we go again…"

Destiny smiled and Jack prepared for the worse, but the pain and the discomfort he felt the other two times never came. Suddenly, he just _knew_ Kila's position, and now he could lead someone there blindfolded, like that information had always been there in his head.

"Now, it wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Don't get cocky, lady, I still haven't decided if I trust you or not."

Destiny smirked. "General, please. You would've never allowed me to place something in your mind unless you didn't trust me a little bit already."

Jack sighed, unable to reply to that. "Fair point. What the hell was the other stuff?"

"A couple more addresses. Just to be sure you're going to find the information I promised you."

"Gadir and Almara?"

Destiny nodded. "These two are closer to Earth and Dakara, respectively. It's worth to give a look."

"I'll let you know if we find something useful. Or if, you know, I decide to toss you out of an airlock."

"Thanks, sir. I'd appreciate it in either case."

"Cool. Now, Destiny, if I ordered you to keep this conversation between us, what would you do?"

"You're my commander's superior. You can give me that order, but I'd like not to have secrets between Colonel Young and me. That's how we decided to run things after the oath," said Destiny, reaching for her radio. Young had finally noticed her disappearance and was calling for her, but Destiny didn't reply. She kept the radio in her hands and watched Jack, waiting for him to say something.

"Fine," he conceded in the end. "Tell him. But at least wait until I'm gone."

Destiny nodded. "Will do, sir. And if I may… Thanks for the talk."

"The pleasure was all mine, Destiny," said Jack, walking toward the exit. "Report to your commander. I'll show myself out."

Destiny, though, preferred to wait until General O'Neill was really gone and Doctor Caine was once again safely back in his body before reporting to Young. She knew that this just helped made him angrier, but as she said to him, she had a good excuse for acting like that.

"A… a good excuse indeed," was also the only thing Young managed to say after Destiny reported her unofficial meeting with O'Neill.

"I received orders not to say anything until the General was gone, but I came to you the moment he left. Interesting man, I have to say."

"And you think he trusts you."

"He gave me the benefit of the doubt...for the moment, at least. But it's hard to tell with him."

"Yeah, well, it's part of his charm."

"How's the situation with the mutineers?" asked Destiny, changing topic.

"Everyone is back to their quarters. The situation is under control."

"Wray and Rush?"

"Wray, what a coincidence, has been called to report on her mutiny attempt the instant before you came here. I think I can stop wondering how in the hell they already knew about that. As for Rush, no one has seen him. He's probably in his quarters busy defining another plan to take control of the ship."

Destiny sighed and lowered her head. "Come on, sir. Say it. I deserve it."

Young sat on his chair, and for a moment he said nothing. Destiny looked down enough without him telling her the 'told you so' speech he had been working on since he realized how close she was getting to Rush.

"I won't say anything, Destiny. I just want you to pay more attention. Some people just cannot be trusted."

"He went behind my back and lied to my face. I don't think you'll see us spending time together anytime soon."

"You know, I thought you would've reacted differently," said Young. "With anger. Not like this."

Destiny smiled bitterly. "Because I allowed him to hurt me. But don't worry sir, I won't make this mistake ever again. That's a promise."

"The only promise I want to hear from you is that you won't get back to your old, bitchy self because of this," replied Young. He reminded her so much of Garim she couldn't help but laugh a little.

"No need to worry, those days are over. Do I have permission to leave now, sir? I want to check with my civilian friends and make sure everything is really under control."

"Permission granted," replied Young with a nod of his head, and Destiny left his office. For the first time in centuries, though, she found herself stopping by a door not far away from Young's quarters. When her original crew was reduced to less than one hundred souls, they moved all together in one section of the ship, the one they wrongly believed to be the safest and in which Destiny still lived. Young, Eli and her friends still wondered why she was still willing to live in what to their eyes looked like a mausoleum, and asked her many times to move into new quarters closer to the rest of the crew. Destiny always declined the invitation, saying she was perfectly happy with her accommodation and didn't wish to move elsewhere, but in that moment, for the first time, she felt a pang of nostalgia for her old quarters and all that they stood for. Getting back there was the final step in order to complete her transition from her old crew to the new one, and Destiny realized she was finally ready to let go.

It wasn't in her plan to ask for help, so when Eli surprised her filling a few crates with her things a few days later, she naively thought that a simple 'no, thanks' would be enough to make him desist. Three minutes later, though, he came back with Chloe and Scott, all ready to help and not taking no for an answer. There was no chance she could send them all away, so she just shrugged and pointed at the crates on the floor.

"Help yourself," she simply said, and she took one in her arms, immediately followed by the others.

"Good," said Eli. "So, where are your new quarters?"

"Three doors away from Colonel Young's. You know, one of the doors you never managed to open."

"And now we know why," commented Eli. "What are you hiding in there, Dee?"

"The dead bodies of the people that crossed me, of course," joked Destiny. Chloe chuckled.

"Just that? No truly dark secrets?" continued Scott.

"I don't think I have many secrets left, especially of the dark variety. And no, I don't keep weird stuff in my room."

"Then what did you leave in there?" asked Chloe.

Destiny stopped by the door and took a deep breath. "Well, you're about to find out," she said, and then she pressed the button on the wall.

The last time she had seen that place, she hastily filled a bag with her things and left everything behind without thinking twice. She didn't even allow herself to think about what she had left behind, but now, watching Chloe admiring her books and the tapestry hung over her bed, or Scott cutting accidentally a finger on what he called a Sodan weapon set on display on a wall, or Eli peeking in her closet, it felt to her like she never actually abandoned that place. They were right, that place where she stubbornly insisted on living was like a tomb. She had to think more of the living in the now, and less of the dead.

"Dee, this place is huge!" exclaimed Eli. "These quarters must be as big as colonel Young's."

"Bigger, actually. After we defeated our last enemy, Janek felt I deserved a prize and we switched quarters. I actually wanted his grandfather's chessboard, but he preferred this solution, so…"

"Rush said he wants to build a chessboard," said the young man, realizing too late it wasn't something Destiny wanted to hear at the moment. Scott shot Eli a warning look, and he sheepishly apologized to Destiny, even if the woman said it was nothing.

"I'm fine, really. Let's get this done now, okay?"

But Destiny's cheerfulness had faded, and everyone noticed that the smile she put on her face from that moment on was just a pale imitation of her previous smiles. Destiny was still hurting, and that was why Chloe and Matt both decided to finish unpacking her things quickly and then leave her alone. That was what Eli wanted to do too, but once he remained alone with his friend he decided to stay a little longer.

"Destiny, listen…"

"Eli, I've told you. I'm fine. Stop worrying," said Destiny, taking out the chessboard from the last crate and placing it on a small table near the window.

"Hey, I'm your friend, worrying is part of the job description," joked Eli. Destiny smiled a little, and sat on the bed.

"Eli, I'm the one that should apologize, not the other way around. I've not been a good friend to you lately."

"What?" said Eli, sitting next to her. "Dee, no. You've been an amazing friend."

"No, I haven't. Tell me the last time we actually had a true, honest-to-God conversation, or we just spent time together. And no, maintenance doesn't count," she added, before Eli could say something.

"You're very busy dealing with Young, the ship, the crew, and… well, him. And all at once sometimes!"

"That's not an excuse. You're the first friend I made here, and you deserve better," she said, eyeing the chessboard. "You don't have much to do today, right?"

"Actually, I'm done with work for today. What do you have in mind?"

"What about a game? From what I understand, we play chess in the same way."

"To get my ass handed to me from the best military strategist in the Ancient Fleet? No, thank you!"

"Please. I haven't played since Janek ascended, a few thousands years give or take. That should give you a little advantage, don't you think?"

"A tiny, tiny one."

"Oh, for crying out loud! You know, I almost wish the colonel was here. For once he could say I'm not the one behaving like a child!"

"He would probably say we're both behaving like children and then he would order us to go and do something useful."

"Yeah, he would. So… chess?"

"And chess it is."

* * *

_When Destiny places the chessboard on one of the tables in the observation deck, she can't help but think of the first time she had seen it. Garim taught her to play like he did his sons and daughters, even if she didn't have a body at the time and he had to move all the pieces himself. If she could see battles and life with the same clarity she could see that miniature battlefield, he repeated her, she would__ never be__ defeated._

_After Garim's death, Ari kept that little tradition alive, and it was only thanks to that chessboard she begrudgingly started to think that maybe Janek wasn't so bad a captain after all, if he was chosen to inherit that precious heirloom. _

_And now it was hers. Destiny touches with reverence the colored crystal surface and perfectly sculptured pawns, and with a smile, she opens the game by moving the first piece._

_Eli is - unsurprisingly – very good at this game. Playing with him, though, is more about fun than an exercise in military strategy. Destiny laughs and jokes, feeling finally relaxed and happy, and without Eli noticing she lets him win._

_It's only after the end of the game that Destiny notices Rush leaning near the door of the observation deck, and she wonders how long he has been there watching them. Eli notices him too, and he hurriedly get__s__ up to leave Destiny and Rush alone. Destiny tries to make him stay, but Eli is out of the room before she can finish her speech. Rush comes closer, and Destiny wishes looks could kill._

* * *

When Rush saw Destiny playing with Eli, his first impulse was to leave the deck before they would notice his presence. His role in the mutiny was now known to everyone, and except for the people obliged to work with him, no one was that eager to have anything to do with him. If Rush were a different man, maybe that would've hurt him, but Rush was Rush, and he never gave a damn about what the other crew members thought about him.

With one, possibly two big exception to that rule, he thought, watching Eli and Destiny playing chess on a beautiful crystal chessboard.

To a certain level, the scientist felt responsible for the young genius. He was the one that brought him on Icarus in the first place, after all, without even giving him the chance to kiss his mother goodbye. When Eli solved that equation, he couldn't help but hate that young man that in a month achieved what he failed to accomplish in two years of work. His pride couldn't accept that a big child with no meaningful education was in fact the genius he would never be, but that harsh judgment changed after their arrival on the ship. Eli was probably the only one as determined to explore the ship as he was, and his enthusiasm was contagious at times, like in that moment, when he took Destiny's tower with a particularly smart move. He made a joke, and Destiny laughed, tucking a long streak of hair behind her ear.

He didn't stop and think of the possible consequences when Camille recruited him for her little coup. In his arrogance, he didn't think there would be any… but he was wrong. All the rage and pain he saw in Destiny's eyes after she discovered his role in the mutiny still haunted him. He'd deliberately hurt her and betrayed her trust in order to follow his ambitions, and Destiny would probably never forgive him for that.

But he could try.

Rush waited until the game was over, but it took just one look to realize the last thing Destiny wanted to do was to talk to him. Luckily for him, Eli wisely decided to remove himself from the line of fire, and left him alone with Destiny. The woman crossed her arms over her chest, and narrowed her eyes.

"We need to talk," Rush said, and Destiny, after a moment of shock, burst in laughter.

"I didn't know you had a sense of humor, Doctor Rush. Do you know other jokes as funny as this one?"

Rush lowers his head for a second, and then decided to cut to the chase. "It was nothing personal, Destiny. You know that."

Destiny took a deep breath and regained a little composure.

"Do I? You used what I told you against me. I thought I could trust a friend not to deceive me like that."

"We were trying to get Young to step down," explained Rush, moving closer to her. "There were bigger things at stake than our friendship."

"Attacking my legitimate commander equals to attack me," hissed Destiny.

"And what did Young do to deserve such loyalty? He obliged you to share all your life with us… but what did he give you in return?"

"It doesn't work this way," replied Destiny, but he could see how his words hit a nerve. He was so close to her now he could almost touch her, but Rush valued his life and the integrity of his limbs too much to try something so potentially dangerous.

"I never obliged to share what you didn't want to share," he softly remembered her.

"No. You just betrayed me. What's worse, according to your moral?"

"It wasn't my intention to hurt you."

"But you did. Please leave now, I want to stay alone."

Destiny turned her back on him, watching obstinately the ship traveling through hyperspace. Rush sighed, and slowly walked out of the observation deck. Destiny felt grateful for that perfect timing.

This way, he would never see her tears.


	10. Milestone

**Hello, and sorry for the wait! Took me a while to write this chapter, but I hope you'll like it. And thanks for all the reviews, they made my day!**

* * *

"Okay," said Destiny, once she regained the ability to talk. "What the hell is that?"

That wasn't exactly what Destiny imagined to find once she came out of hyperspace. It had been one week since the mutiny, and two since Destiny used the last piece of useful intel in her database. The military rations were almost finished, and a parasite brought on board from the Jungle planet obliged Doctor Brown to destroy all contaminated plants in the green house, thus reducing the food supply to a dangerously low level. Finding the new milestone wasn't an option; it was a necessity. Destiny never showed her crew or commander how worried she really was, so when Eli ran to her quarters and told her he had located the beacon signal, she couldn't help but feel immensely relieved. So much, actually, that she didn't stop thinking the new route she traced would take her off the designed course, in a sector of the galaxy not seeded with Stargates.

And now, she was looking with the rest of the crew at a star that shouldn't be there in the first place.

"'What the hell is that?' You know, Dee, it's not comforting hearing you say that," commented Eli.

"Especially considering that you should know more about the route than anyone on board," added Rush.

Destiny sighed and clutched the banister. "The information contained in the last milestone was more than accurate. There's no way Leda could've missed a star system."

"I think we can all beg to differ on that. Stars don't appear out of nowhere, Destiny."

"I know that much, Doctor, thank you very much. But there must be an explanation for this."

"Well, if you have one, then I'd like to hear it."

Destiny sighed at the sarcastic remark and clutched the banister even tighter, part of her wishing it was Rush's neck. Since the mutiny, the two of them started behaving coldly with one another, reducing all their interactions to a minimum. Destiny couldn't forgive his betrayal and Rush was angry and disappointed that Destiny, the only person on board he could have a decent conversation with, couldn't see things his way and actually decided to side with the military. They behaved normally with the rest of the crew, but when they were together they acted like they had never been friends.

Young noticed Destiny was doing her best to stay calm and possibly not punch Rush in the face, and he briefly squeezed her hand in sympathy before answering back to the scientist.

"It's not her job to come up with a theory, Rush, it's yours."

"In that case, do excuse me," said the scientist, and he immediately left, followed after a second by Eli and the other scientists. Young glanced at the door closing behind Brody, and resumed talking.

"It's also safe to say there's no Gate on that planet, but we can use the shuttle to explore the surface. If we're lucky we might find food and water, in addition to the beacon and new intel on this galaxy. Scott, Greer, put together a team and be ready to leave as soon as we'll be in range."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Then we can go back to work, now," said the Colonel, but he gestured Destiny to stay. He waited silently until everyone else had left the observation deck. Once alone, Destiny sighed.

"Oh joy. What have I done now?"

"Destiny, I'm not complaining about the fact that we're spending more time together or that you also spend more time getting to know the crew better… but this situation is becoming a problem."

"I'm sorry, weren't you the one that suggested me to stop being always in Rush's company? Well, I did. And with all due respect, sir… you're in no condition for lecturing me on this particular matter. You can barely tolerate Doctor Rush, no matter what you keep telling everyone."

"You're right, I can't stand the guy. And right now, neither can you. But your falling-out with Rush is affecting the entire crew, and I can't have that."

"I know. But I can't let it go. He betrayed me. How can I work with him and pretend it never happened?"

"I'm sure you can find a way."

Destiny sighed. "If this way involves me punching him in the face, then yes, I completely agree."

Young did his best not to chuckle. "Okay," he said, in a more serious tone. "Let's change the topic, now, shall we? About this solar system… The longest countdown we had was of seventy-two hours, but you'll agree with me, we might need more time in this occasion."

"How much time?"

"Enough to let everyone on board enjoy the planet, to replenish our reserves, to find this damn milestone of yours…"

"Thirty days," proposed Destiny. "How about that?"

Young smiled approvingly. "Sounds good. How long will it take to retrieve the beacon?"

"The signal is weak, sir. It might take some time. I'll make sure to explain all the retrieval procedures to Lieutenant Scott before he leaves."

The Colonel frowned. "I'm sorry… I thought you would be the one overseeing that part of the mission."

"Me?" exclaimed Destiny, completely taken by surprise. "You want me to go down there with the team?"

"Why do you sound so shocked? I think it's time you get officially integrated into the chain of command. Right now, people are confused on your degree of authority on board, especially after the mutiny."

"I'm always been the ship's executive officer and the captain's second-in-command… but I don't think I can claim that position now."

"Lieutenant Scott is my second-in-command, but you clearly know more about being an XO and how to keep the crew under control, something I'm afraid Scott is not yet capable of doing."

"Scott is a good soldier and a good leader," protested Destiny. "He just needs a little more time!"

"And you stopped a mutiny without firing a bullet. I'm going to talk to Scott about this too, but as far as I'm concerned I want both of you to work together as my second-in-command."

Destiny opened her mouth to protest some more, but she couldn't actually find a good reason to. Colonel Young seemed sure this could work, and the new mission would be the perfect test.

"I'll give it a try, sir, but only if Scott agrees."

"I'm sure he will. You two have become friends, right?"

Destiny reflected for a few seconds. She was friends with Eli, and Eli was friends with Scott and Chloe. Usually she preferred Eli's company, but sometimes the four of them hung out together. She didn't consider Matthew Scott a friend of hers the way Eli was, but what they had surely was a good place to start.

"Yes, Colonel, we have."

"Good. I'll inform him immediately you will join the mission."

Destiny nodded and left the room. She was officially in charge, there was a planet to explore, a beacon to retrieve and the chances of seeing Rush during that month were close to zero.

A genuine, excited smile appeared on her face for the first time in weeks.

* * *

_Destiny is the only one left inside of the shuttle after the landing. Everyone was so excited to finally have found an uninhabited planet full of food and fresh water that it was almost a miracle no one got hurt when they tried to get out of there all at once, and she can't blame them. Humans aren't supposed to live in space for long periods of time and they need a change of scenery once in a while. Her original crew loved to take a break from their one-way trip into the unknown every six months or so, if the situation allowed it. Sometimes Destiny joined them, but most of the times she preferred to stay behind on the ship, carrying maintenance if needed or simply watching over them as a benevolent guardian. _

_When she finally decides to join the others and gets out of the shuttle, though, Destiny is not prepared to feel so violently sick all of a sudden. Greer catches her just a moment before Destiny's knees give in and he immediately calls for TJ. He helps her go back inside the small ship, but just before that another wave of nausea drowns her and she throws up the little food she had for breakfast that morning. She's aware of the many pair of eyes on her, but in that very moment, she doesn't care. She just wants that sickness to end._

_When TJ arrives, Destiny is lying on her back on the grass, head padded on Greer's backpack, with one arm covering her eyes. She takes slow, deep breaths, and doesn't move a muscle. The slightest movement, she discovered, makes everything even worse. TJ takes her pulse, touches her forehead and suggests that maybe it's better for Destiny to get back on the ship. It takes a lot of concentration for Destiny to voice her protest, and she manages to convince TJ to let her stay at least for a day. TJ orders Destiny to lie down and keep hydrated; Destiny doesn't agree with her, but she doesn't have the strength to protest again._

_Greer asks TJ what she thinks Destiny has, and TJ confirms Destiny's suspects by explaining the soldier that Destiny has never left the ship once in thee hundred years, and that probably her body was suffering for the abrupt change. The nanites were designed to keep her healthy from illnesses and to heal her wounds; they weren't programmed for something like that._

_"How do you feel?" asks TJ. "Embarrassed," is Destiny's answer. She truly is. She was supposed to be the one caring for them, not the other way around, and laying still on her makeshift bed while everyone is busy building the camp just makes her feel worse. _

_Scott pays her a visit when he's sure everyone got their instructions right and his men came back from the recon tour. The planet is safe, he tells her. No people, no predators in sight. Sadly, no beacon in the surroundings, but that's not so important right now. Destiny comments on how the soldiers and the civilians worked well together to build the camp, and wishes she will be more helpful the following day._

_Scott tells her to take her time, but the following day Destiny is already back on her feet, even if she doesn't feel that good, and it's not just because of her mission. The yellow kiwi and the goat-like animal Greer killed and brought back to the camp, she dismissed as a weird coincidence. But when Volker comes back a few days after and talks about a giant black obelisk covered in a weird language, Destiny knows she can't talk about coincidences anymore, especially after realizing that the signal from the missing milestone came from the obelisk itself. _

_Maybe Destiny can't explain how the planet was created, but she can tell without a doubt it has been terraformed by Ancients in image of Amaras, an Ancient outpost in the Milky Way. Amaras was the planet where the Ancients, the Nox, the Furlings and the Asgards met to negotiate their alliance. Only two of her sisters were chosen to represent their kind – Destiny was too busy fighting what was left of her enemies to care, and diplomacy wasn't her area of expertise anyway – and neither Karis nor Freya could've done something like that, both were long dead. Aurora maybe, but even if she was able to conceive that idea, she didn't have the resources to make it happen._

_Well, whoever wanted her full attention, now he got it. _

_It still remains to be seen if it's a friend or a foe._

* * *

"I guess you're feeling better now," Scott ironically commented, sitting next to Destiny on a fallen tree. Destiny grinned but didn't turn to look at him. She weighted the knife she had just cleaned and threw it against a tree, hitting the trunk exactly in the middle.

"Never felt better in my entire life, Lieutenant," she said, and Scott knew she meant it.

"I've never imagined you were such an outdoor enthusiast," he said, gesturing at her. Destiny smiled, looking at her tanned skin. She then took another knife in her hands and started removing the dried blood from the blade.

"I wish we weren't supposed to leave this planet so soon. The sun, the fresh air, the food…"

"Your hunting trips with Greer…"

"Never heard anyone complaining about eating meat for a change."

"It's where we're going to store all that meat that worries me."

"You know, the morgue we have aboard is basically a giant unutilized fridge," Destiny replied in a casual tone. It took Scott a few moments to realize his friend was joking, something that before that mission was usually reserved for her conversations with Eli and that now was inclined to do with pretty much everyone.

"You know, Dee, I liked you better when you didn't have a sense of humor."

"Don't tease me when I'm cleaning my knives, Matt. I'm way too proficient with a blade in my hands."

Scott eyed the knife Destiny had thrown earlier. "As that tree and the local fauna know very well."

Destiny raised briefly the eyes skywards, exasperated. "Don't you have anything else to do, Lieutenant? Ordering people around, courting Chloe…"

"I work with someone," and he pointed his finger at her, "that doesn't understand the concept of disorganization. So, no, I've actually free time on my hands."

"The Colonel is coming," Destiny reminded him. "There's no such thing as free time today. And Greer saw some of those tasty boar-like creatures yesterday, a couple hours away from here. We might even be able to offer him and the others a proper feast."

"Ok, fine. Try not to come back here like the last time."

"Find a way to kill and skin an animal without getting blood on your hands and clothes, and I sure won't."

"I mean, like someone who _enjoyed_ it," precised Scott. "You looked scary."

Destiny smiled sweetly. "Just a reminder of why it's not wise to cross me," she said, and retrieved her knife.

"If you're done chatting, _ma'am_, we've some hunting to do," said Greer, joining Scott and Destiny. Destiny made a face – again, something she never did with anyone but Eli – and reminded Greer for the umpteenth time not to call her that.

"I love my name. Use it."

"The colonel decided you're his second-in-command along with Lieutenant Scott. I don't call my superiors by name."

"Well, it's an order. Don't call me like that!"

"Yes, _ma'am_. Will do, _ma'am_," replied Greer, now with the clear intent of pissing her off. Scott chuckled. Destiny let out a long-suffering sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Move, Sergeant, before I kick your ass," she said, collecting her weapons.

"Just remember, Dee. Kill the boar, not the annoying soldier," said Scott, suppressing a grin.

"How about killing the annoying Lieutenant instead?"

"Ouch. And here I was thinking we were friends…"

Destiny laughed again and disappeared in the woods along with Greer. After a few minutes, she let her mask of cheerfulness fade away and tried to concentrate on the hunt. It was difficult, though; the colonel was coming, and she had to give him a valid explanation why she hadn't retrieved the beacon yet. That planet shouldn't exist, let alone being the perfect copy of Amaras. The obelisk was the source of the signal, she knew that much, but something in her guts told her she had to stay away. Of course, she wouldn't be able to fulfill her wish now that the Colonel was headed down there.

"Ok," said Greer, interrupting her musing. "Why does this planet freak you out?"

"It doesn't," lied Destiny, suddenly more interested in the trees around her. Where was a boar when you needed one?

"Yeah, right. When Volker brought back the sketches he made of the obelisk, I thought you were going to faint from shock. Cut the crap, Dee. What's going on?"

Destiny glanced at the obelisk. "Nothing you or the others have to worry about. This place is safe, nice… enjoy it while you still can, who knows when we're going to find another planet like this."

"You knew it was safe even before we made our scouting tour."

Destiny sighed, and cursed the sergeant's spirit of observation. "Educated guess."

"Bullshit! You want to hear a real educated guess? I think you know exactly where that damn milestone is. I think it has something to do with the obelisk, since you kept your distance from that place in every possible way. And I think all of this has something to do with a place called Amaras. James told me… apparently, you talk in your sleep every now and then."

Destiny froze. Appearances could be deceiving, sometimes, and she was starting to realize how true that statement was in Ronald Greer's case. Everyone saw the tough soldier, but there was a keen, bright mind behind it. He wasn't a big talker, he preferred to listen and observe the people he had to live with. That was not a guess, Greer had kept a eye on her since she recovered from her illness. He knew there was something wrong, exactly like Destiny knew she wouldn't be able of talking her way out of that conversation.

"What's Amaras?"

"A planet in the Milky Way. This planet is its perfect copy, and I mean perfect… from the yellow kiwis to the black obelisk."

"What?"

"Someone created the system, but someone else terraformed it. Someone who knew about the planet… but just two of my sisters knew about Amaras, Karis and Freya, and they've both been dead for quite a while now."

"You do."

"Because Karis told me before dying. Amaras is where the Four Races met to finalize their alliance and its location was a secret. I don't even know where it's located, just what it looks like."

"Maybe Freya survived."

"Freya died in battle. Maybe she told Leda… but even if she did, she couldn't have been able to do this on her own!"

"You're scared of what you might find."

"Or who."

"I thought we already knew everything about you… but I guess no one can oblige someone to share everything."

"Like I already said, Ron, there are things about me that I prefer to be left unsaid. Things I'm not proud of. And things I'd rather forget."

Greer was going to ask her more about the obelisk when his radio came to life. It was Lieutenant Scott, who alerted them that the Colonel was there and wanted to see Destiny immediately. Destiny closed her eyes and sighed and once Greer handed her the radio, she told Scott she would be there in half an hour. But there was one thing Scott 'forgot' to mention, and for a split second Destiny desired to kill him with her own hands. Eli, Destiny was told, suffered an injury while exploring with Rush and the others a sector of the ship Destiny hadn't finished to fix yet.

"He's in the infirmary right now. His condition's not serious, but he can't walk… so the Colonel decided to bring him instead," and he motioned for Rush with his head.

Destiny watched Rush and her look immediately hardened. To Matt, it felt almost like those days spent on the planet away from the scientist never happened.

"Easy, Dee," said Scott, placing one hand on her shoulder. "I know you don't want him here, but play nice, ok?"

"I'll try."

"That's all I ask. Come on, we have to report to the Colonel."

"You go ahead. I'll keep an eye on the civilians. We have a feast to prepare, after all."

Matt furrowed his eyebrows, not entirely buying Destiny's newfound good mood, but did as he was told. He glanced again at Rush, mouthed 'be nice' to his friend, and then joined the Colonel inside the shuttle. Destiny observed the shuttle for a couple of seconds, and then she looked at Rush, standing near the shelters and looking completely unimpressed by the change of scenery.

"If I discover Eli got hurt because of you, I'll toss you out of an airlock," said Destiny, moving closer to the scientist.

"Good afternoon to you as well, Destiny," replied Rush, unfazed by Destiny's not so veiled hostility. "Eli sends his regards and wants you to tell him everything once you're back on board."

"I have some Kino footage for him to watch while he recovers."

"How thoughtful of you."

"I wasn't exactly thinking of that when I took the Kino with me, Doctor," hissed Destiny. "Ok. Let's get this over with," she then added, turning her back on Rush and marching straight to the shuttle. She was going to interrupt Scott's report and once again she would probably see the look Young usually reserved for the moments in which she reverted to a petulant child, but as she explained to her commander and her friend, it was preferable to hit Rush in front of everyone.

"I'm truly sorry, Matt, for bursting in here like this," she apologized to the Lieutenant. "I thought I was over this. Sir, apologies to you as well."

Young nodded and rose from one of the shuttle seats. "I will accept your apologies, but this is the last time I'll do it. This has to end. You and Rush have to find a way to coexist peacefully, to work together again. Don't oblige me to make that an order," Young added when Destiny tried to protest. The woman lowered her eyes and told her commander that yes, she would try to act in a civil way with Rush once she would go back to the ship.

"We still have two weeks before resuming our journey, and I intend to spend that time as far away from him as humanly possible. I'll use that time to try my best to forget what he did, so to come back on the ship with a better attitude in his regards. Is that acceptable?"

"It is," replied Young. "Now, unless you want to stay for Lieutenant Scott's report…"

"I know where the milestone is," said Destiny, earning two surprised looks from both Young and Scott.

"I thought you haven't found it yet," commented Scott, confused. Destiny gave him an apologetic look and confessed to the two men she had known his exact position since their arrival, but that there was more to that story. Destiny then proceeded to give then a quick explanation about Amaras, its importance for the earlier Ancients, and why she didn't say a word about the planet and the milestone before.

"I just don't know what to expect. Someone clearly wanted me to find this place and to start asking myself questions… but who?"

Young gave her a curious look. "I don't recall seeing you scared before."

"If I were alone, I would investigate. But almost the entire crew is here, I can't put them in danger. The planet is safe, but I have a weird feeling about the obelisk and the milestone."

"But like you said," Young reminded her, "we need the new information, otherwise we'll be flying blind. It's a risk we can't take."

"It's not dark yet," suggested Scott. "We could go there and be back before someone might notice our absence. I'll tell James and TJ."

"You do that. Tell Rush to come, too, we might need him," he added, ignoring the unhappy look on Destiny's face. He pointed a finger at her.

"I want to see a little of that spirit of cooperation. I know it's somewhere inside of you. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir. Crystal clear."

"Good," said Young, clapping his hands. "Let's move then, I've heard something about a feast in my honor and a roasted boar. Can't wait to finally enjoy a proper meal after all this time."

Destiny gave her commander a little smile, and followed him outside. Scott had already proceeded to alert TJ and James, and Rush was already waiting for them near the shuttle. They silently reached the other end of the camp and started walking in the woods, headed towards the obelisk's valley.

"Scott told me you found the milestone but you didn't retrieve the information. Why?"

Destiny sighed and choked back the poisonous remark she was going to make. "I preferred to wait for my commander, in this case. It's called protocol."

Rush slightly furrowed his eyebrows and gave her a curious look. "Then why are you so nervous?"

"Because I'd rather be hunting with Greer. We had a challenge, and by being here, I clearly lost it."

"A challenge. And what was the prize?"

"Destiny will teach him how to use an old traditional Ancient weapon," answered Scott. "The one hanging on your quarters' wall, right?"

"Yes," nodded Destiny, grateful for the young soldier's intervention. "Back in the day we called it Nassa, but I've heard you call it also a Sodan stick."

"After one of the many civilization in the Milky Way," explained Rush. "They worshipped the Ancients and wanted to achieve ascension, but…"

"…but the Ori prior came and converted them to Origin. He failed his mission in the end, though, thanks to Doctor Jackson and an Ascended Ancient named Orlin," said Destiny ending Rush's sentence. "Yes, I know a thing or two about what happened in the Milky Way after I left," Destiny then explained to a slightly surprised Young. "Your people are chatty, and Doctor Jackson's orientation tapes are fun to watch."

"Then I guess you don't need an explanation about the Ori either."

"Religious fanatics that banned the Alterans from their home. I heard they've been destroyed. Good riddance."

"I take you're not spiritual then," commented Scott.

Destiny laughed. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant, have you ever met my people? Science was our religion. Without it, I wouldn't be here… and neither would you."

"But they decided to take a spiritual turn in the end. Ascension."

"The only thing they weren't able to vanquish was death," said Destiny. "But that didn't mean they didn't try. Ascension was… a legend, at the beginning. People dissolving into light? Life on another plan of existence? Impossible to accept. Impossible to explain. And there was also an unfortunate implication…"

"Sorry, Destiny, I don't follow you," said Young.

"What Destiny means, I think, is that the Ancients couldn't accept the possibility that the Ori could be right. That there was more to life than just… life."

Destiny couldn't help but look at Rush for a second. After all that time spent hating each other, she'd almost forgotten how insightful a conversation with him could be. Destiny immediately lowered her eyes and hurriedly replied that yes, it was certainly something like that.

"In addition, the human population could mistake the Ancients for their gods. They didn't want that kind of attention. They didn't want to become like the Ori. I haven't seen many people ascend in my time, just my commander and some of my crewmembers. My first commander ascended too, or so I was told."

"The question is why they did it, if they thought it could eventually corrupt them."

"They must've changed their minds. I don't know, I wasn't there. What I know is that my crew, presented with their options, decided to try the path to ascension and see what would happen."

"Options? What other options there could be?"

"One thing at the time, Colonel. Right now I think we should concentrate on that," and she indicated the obelisk, now in front of them. The team moved closer and they began studying the inscriptions on the base.

"This is not Ancient," commented Scott, touching one of the engraved words. "Dee, can you read it?"

"No one ever translated it. It possibly belonged to a civilization that got destroyed before the Ancient's arrival in the Milky way."

"But there must be something here of some meaning to you," retorted Rush. "Whoever wanted you to come here, must've left you a sign. Something you would recognize."

Destiny was going to reply that there was nothing familiar about those inscriptions, when she saw the old Earth glyph right in front of her, like she had seen it in Volker's drawings. It was slightly different from the one on the Stargate – one dot and two lines instead of three, and their positions were inverted – and was more than enough to drain again all the color from Destiny's face. She glanced at the others; no one seemed to have noticed her sudden discomfort, and Destiny felt immensely relieved. She slowly touched the back of her neck, almost absent-mindedly, and did her best to regain control.

"Here," she said, and pointed at the glyph. "This wasn't on the Amaras obelisk."

Rush came closer and touched the stone. "It looks like one of the symbols on our Stargate. Do you know its meaning, Destiny?"

"No," said Destiny. "It's of Ancient origin, but I can't tell you more. I'm sorry."

It was incredible how that lie came to her so easily. Effortless, like breathing. She touched the symbol on the stone, but this time, the glyph started to glow.

"What the…?" said Destiny, still touching the stone.

"Genetic key," murmured Rush, fascinated. "What's happening now, Destiny?"

Destiny frowned. She wasn't sure of what to tell Rush or the others. When she placed her hand on the obelisk, she clearly felt stone, hard and cold, under her fingers. But once the glyph started to glow, the feeling changed. She could still feel something against her hand, but it felt more like the surface of a force field than rock. Destiny pressed her palm against the smooth surface; the force field pushed it back. Destiny pushed harder, and after the initial resistance her hand disappeared inside the obelisk.

"It's just a force field, nothing danger…" she began to say, but before she could end her sentence, the force field sucked her inside. With her free hand she tried frantically to grasp something to hold on to, but the only thing she came in contact with, as she sadly realized once they were both inside, was Rush's brown shirt. Destiny sighed and moved a hand through her hair.

"Great. So incredibly great," she said, unable to see a thing in the dark. Rush was behind her, she could hear his breathing. He was still within her hand's reach, something she wasn't used anymore. If they were on the ship she would immediately try to put some distance between her and the scientist, but in that situation, the closer they were, the better.

"What the hell is this place?"

"I'm as blind as you are in here," Destiny answered. She stiffened a little when she felt Rush's hand touching her arm and then reaching for her hand.

"There must be a light source somewhere," he said, and then Destiny felt him gently dragging her to the wall, trying to find a way to light the chamber. Again, though, the moment Destiny touched the wall all the inscriptions inside – the place was covered by them – began to glow. Unlike the exterior writings on the obelisk, the walls of the chamber were written in Ancient. Rush immediately let Destiny go and began reading the writings on the wall, while Destiny, using the little light present in the room, reached what looked like a rectangular crystal encased in the floor. That was awfully familiar to Destiny as well: in her time, all the tombs looked like that. She slowly knelt by the crystal surface, and with an hand she cleaned it a little. She couldn't help but gasp in surprise when she finally saw the face of the one buried there.

"Great ancestors," she whispered, unable to believe her eyes. A moment later, Rush was next to her, bending to look at the woman under the glass.

"Who is she, Destiny?"

"The last person I thought I would find here," answered Destiny, getting back on her feet. She moved to the front of what she now knew to be a very advanced stasis pod, and looked for something resembling a release mechanism. A voice, though, stopped her.

"I would be immensely grateful if you didn't do that, little sister."

Destiny grinned, and turned in the direction of the voice. Freya's hologram was smiling back at her like the last time she had seen her, so long ago she didn't quite remember. The last great war was still raging through the galaxy when her sister and her crew were believed to be dead, after a pulsar damaged the shields and left the ship at the mercy of the enemy fire during a battle. It was incredible to be able to see her again.

"I think you should make some introductions, Destiny," said Rush, now at Destiny's side. He didn't seem able to detach his eyes from Freya's face.

"Sister, this is Doctor Rush. Doctor Rush… this is Freya. And judging by that stasis pod, I believe she has quite a story to tell us."

Freya grinned. "Oh, sister… you have no idea."


	11. Interlude

_**Stargate Command – Earth**_

"Colonel Mitchell, welcome back," said General Landry, greeting the leader of SG-1 and his newly assembled team in the Gate Room.

"It's good to be back, sir. All right, kids, you know the drill, report to the infirmary. I'll see you later for the post-mission briefing," said Mitchell to the rest of his team, a few of the best and brightest young SGC members he could find when Carter, Teal'C and Daniel left the team, this time for real. He was still sad about the end of the original SG-1, but with Sam getting the command of the Hammond, Daniel and Vala basically living and causing havoc on Atlantis and Teal'C completely absorbed by his people's politics, there was no possible way for that team to keep existing, except in memories. As for his new team, he had just learned their names after a one-month struggle to remember them; considering, though, they were all at least five year younger than him, most of times he just resolved to call them 'kids', much to their displeasure. The kids in question were Doctor Isabel Tremaine, Sergeant Steve Walker and Captain Ben Adams, and they were all Icarus Base's survivors, some of the few that the Hammond managed to beam on board.

"Colonel," started Landry as soon as the team left the Gate Room, "I know you were supposed to take a leave for a few days, but unfortunately you'll have to reschedule. Something big came up."

"What's the occasion, sir?"

"General O'Neill is here in my office, he'll explain everything."

"General O'Neill? I thought he was busy with the IOA and Homeworld Command, trying to get the people on the Destiny home."

"He still is. Go talk to him, colonel… I have a feeling you won't regret it."

Mitchell watched Landry leave with a confused frown on his face, but if General O'Neill was really waiting for him it was better not to make him wait longer than necessary.

"General," he said, entering Landry's office. "To what we owe the pleasure?"

"Destiny. I've recently paid a visit to the people stranded there… and I came back with some intel about some ship anchorages the Ancients used around the time the ship left the galaxy. From what she told me, those places might be Daniel's promised land."

"Even more than Atlantis?"

"Daniel, and the rest of us to a certain extent, always wondered what happened between the Alterans' arrival and their decision to leave the galaxy. We know some details, of course, but from what I gathered, there's much more to that story than the plague and a sudden desire to explore the Pegasus galaxy."

"I'm sorry, sir… who told you all of this?"

"Oh, right. Destiny."

"The _ship _told you?"

"Well, she's also a pretty lady with long brown hair and interesting alcohol-brewing skills. Seems like that before the Asurans, the Ancients had already tried to create artificial life."

"So she's a machine."

"She considers herself to be an human being. Her physiology is also similar to ours."

"But she's not."

"Well… That's a matter of opinion. And that's why you're here. Destiny gave us a few nine-chevron addresses that should lead us to these anchorages, if they have not been destructed. I want you, Carter and Jackson to go there and bring back all the information you can on Destiny and the other sentient ships. That's the only way we could get to know more about them."

"And I have to give you an answer right now."

"You're smart! So, what's gonna be?"

Mitchell lowered his head and smiled. "You already know the answer, sir. Beside that… I need to show the kids what a real SG team looks like. Nothing better than to see half of the original SG-1 in action!"

"Well, then. Carter and Jackson will be here in a couple of hours. As soon as the mission is planned, you're good to go. Ah, Mitchell, another thing: I'd appreciate if you wouldn't share what I told you about Destiny. I want to keep this information classified for as long as possible."

Jack left a few moments later, and Mitchell joined his team in the base infirmary to give them the news himself. The soldiers were unimpressed but Isabel lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Colonel, are you serious? We are going to actually catch a glimpse of the tech the Destiny has on board? That's awesome!"

"Glad someone here is excited," commented Ben, sitting on the cot next to hers. "I would've preferred a day off instead."

"Then you're an idiot. I can't wait to see Kila!"

"Isabel, calm down," said Mitchell. "Remember, Colonel Carter will be in charge of the scientific aspects of the mission along with Doctor Jackson. No playtime for you."

"Then I'll respectfully ask Carter and Jackson permission to play in their sandbox before I do something, Colonel. This is my chance. I won't waste it."

Steve snorted. "Oh please. Still wishing you were stranded aboard Destiny with Rush?"

"Well, unlike some crybaby here," Isabel retorted, pointing at Steve, "I signed up for the communication stones protocol. One way or another, I'll get to see that ship."

"Right. Abandoned ship boarded by an handful of explorers. I've seen the movie. I doesn't end well."

Isabel sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Ok, kids, that was truly interesting. Colonel Carter and Doctor Jackson are coming here in a couple of hours, so I suggest to rest while you still can. We'll leave as soon as possible. It's pretty important we bring back that database, or whatever information we'll find."

"Important for who?" asked Isabel. "For the people on the ship?"

"The General has been vague on the details. We…"

"Where did they find the anchorage's position and address? It doesn't figure in any report…"

"God, Isabel! You can be worse than Jackson sometimes, you knew that?"

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Yeah, whatever. See you in the briefing room."

Isabel followed Mitchell with her eyes until he exited the room, and then she jumped off the bed.

"Doctor Tremaine, I haven't finished…" started to say one of the nurses, but Isabel's glare made her quickly change her mind. It was very easy to forget that despite the young age and her apparently fragile appearance, that girl was possibly worse than Rush. They learned it on their own skin, after all: Isabel Tremaine was the kind of girl that meant trouble, but considering that she saved their asses on the field with her quick-thinking skills several times, everyone on her team, even Colonel Mitchell, was more than ready to close an eye on her unpredictable mood swings.

Not wishing to be at the receiving end of one of Isabel's tirades, the nurse immediately moved aside and let the girl retrieve her things and leave. Isabel returned to her quarters, but she stayed there only long enough to change her clothes and grab some money. If she was going to be sent offworld again in a few hours, the least they could do was let her out for a little while to catch some fresh air and prepare for the mission of her lifetime. After promising she would just go grab some decent coffee for the team to her favorite place and then be back immediately, Isabel finally jumped into her car and left the base. She kept her cheerful mask on until she passed the final inspection, and waited until she was sure there was enough distance between her and the base to take an earpiece not bigger than an earring out from a compartment and put it into place on her right earlobe, pressing it slightly to activate the connection.

"You there?"

"Isabel. What a surprise. Shouldn't have you…"

"No time for pleasantries today. I'm headed offworld again today, and I have big news. I need to speak to her."

"What? No. No, no, no. The plan…"

"I'm perfectly aware of what the plan was!" hissed Isabel. "But I need to speak to her, Koz … or should I start calling you Hank? Maybe staying too much with the Tau'ri made you forget who you are."

"There's no need to remind me on which side I am. It's not like I can call Atia and tell her to come here on such a short notice. She's busy. And scary like hell."

"She wants to hear this, believe me. Call her, and I'll deal with her eventual wrath myself. I'll be there in twenty minutes," said Isabel, ending the phone call and increasing her speed. She could understand why her handler wouldn't want to bother Atia – that woman took care almost single-handedly of all the remaining System Lords herself and served Baal to the SGC on a silver platter – but being kept informed of everything was one of the main recommendation she gave her, when she received the order to infiltrate the Stargate Command to monitor everything related to the nine-chevron address, every possible way of dialing it safely, and every progress made by the Tau'ri on Icarus Base. Unlike them, Isabel knew perfectly what that address was, and making sure they wouldn't reach the Destiny before her people was her primary objective. Unfortunately, her _other_ people, a more extremist fringe of the Lucian Alliance, found out about Icarus and decided to destroy the planet. Idiots.

After her forced return to Earth, Isabel – whose real name was Kara – realized she could still be useful to her faction inside the Alliance: given her state of Icarus Base survivor and her work with Doctor Rush, she was given the status of consultant on everything involving Destiny or the search for another Icarus-type planet, especially after her decision to sign up for the communication stones protocol. Until that moment there was nothing worthy to be reported, but the unexpected chance of exploring one of Destiny's old anchorages was definitely something her boss would want to hear about. And more important, she needed to know what to do about the information held in the database, whether she should let SG-1 bring them to Homeworld Command or not. Kara was loyal and committed to the cause: if her leader would order her that, she would obey without a question, even if that implied betraying her new friends. Kara hated herself for 'going native', as the Tau'ri would say, but keeping her cover was becoming difficult. It wasn't because of her alias, because Isabel Tremaine had been tailored on her and she had been living Isabel's life for two years before being recruited for the Stargate program, two years earlier. It was because of Mitchell, Ben and Steve, the closest thing to a friend she had in four years. Kara perfectly knew what would happen to her if they discovered she was a member of the Lucian Alliance undercover, but she couldn't help but feeling a little conflicted about it.

Not that she would ever tell Koz that.

"So?" she said, once she reached her fellow comrade in his apartment in Colorado Springs. "Have you arranged the meeting?"

"And good afternoon to you too, Kara," Koz sarcastically replied. "As I tried to tell you, milady is quite busy trying to get aboard the Destiny. She won't leave the new base… you, on the other hand, can reach her there without leaving the planet," and he motioned for the coffee table near the couch. Isabel moved closer to get a proper look, with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Communication stones. Where the hell…?"

"Apparently, the boss has quite a stash of tech – Ancient, Goa'uld and Tau'ri – hoarded somewhere in the galaxy," he explained, while Kara sat on the couch and lit the pad. She took one of the stones from the table, and before leaving for her private meeting with her leader she turned to give Koz a stern look.

"No funny business while I'm over there, Koz. Especially if Mera comes through."

Koz rolled the eyes and mockingly placed one hand over the heart. "I'll tell my girlfriend to bite it, I promise. Not even a chaste kiss on the cheek."

"Idiot," mumbled Kara under her breath while placing the stone in place. She closed her eyes, and when she reopened them she was someone else, somewhere else. Kara carefully examined a streak of her host's hair, and sighed in relief when she saw it was bright red and not black. She had switched with Ginn, the resident math genius.

"She couldn't wait to see Earth. You know, the planet Eli Wallace is from," commented a well-built Lucian soldier, gesturing at Kara's body. Kara smiled.

"Don't tell her I said that, but she's basically him, just prettier, less fat and female. Hi, Varro. Long time no see."

"No time for pleasantries, today," said Varro, echoing Kara's words to Koz and motioning the girl to follow him outside the room. "Word is, we're close. We might board the Destiny tomorrow."

"And Homeworld Command might get their hands on something huge in a few hours. I win. Where is Atia?"

"Here," said Varro, stopping just outside the room hosting the stargate. "Make it quick, we've work to do."

"Of course," replied Kara, and entered the room alone. She heard Varro leaving soon after, probably to prevent other people from interrupting her meeting, but Atia was nowhere to be seen.

"Kara," said a voice coming from behind her. "It's been a while."

Kara immediately turned and brought her left hand over her shoulder, bowing her heard slightly in front of a leather-clad woman not older than her, with long, dark blond hair meticulously braided and tied up in a low ponytail. "My lady Atia. Thanks for this meeting."

"You said it was important, and I trust your judgment," said Atia, slowly entering the room. "I can't give you much time, though. Speak."

"The Tau'ri have discovered the Gate address of an Ancient anchorage, Kila. We're going there in two hours. I though you wanted to know and to give me new instructions," said Kara, stopping to observe Atia's reaction. Sure, she looked surprised at first, but now she was smiling. She looked… happy? Kara frowned, confused.

"I thought you wouldn't be pleased to hear that."

"To the contrary, I am. It means that Destiny is in charge and trusted the Tau'ri on board enough to give them that address. It's a good thing."

Kara was enough used to hear Atia talk about Destiny as she were a person at that point that she didn't even flinch when Atia mentioned 'her'. "Alright. But how is that a good thing for _us_, too?"

"The more they'll look at the database, the less they'll look at us. And same goes for the other factions of the Alliance. The Tau'ri can have it, but at my conditions."

"What do you mean?"

Atia opened a small box on a table nearby, and presented Kara with what looked like two pen-drives. "I want you to go to Kila, upload the information on this drive," and raised her right hand, "and then the virus contained in the other one."

Kara opened her mouth, but for a little while she was unable to speak from the shock. "What? Me? Now?"

"I don't see anyone else in this room," said Atia, placing the two small objects in Kara's hand and then approaching the DHD to dial Kila's address. Kara couldn't help but wonder aloud why she never did anything about it, if she had known the address all along.

"Because it's the oldest anchorage of the Old Era and the only one still in one piece; I didn't want to draw attention on it. Kara, you are one of my experts on Ancient tech, and this is an easy mission. It's not going to be a problem for you."

Kara looked at the event horizon, and sighed, defeated. "One day you're going to tell me what this is all about and what it is that you're really doing here."

"I'm doing what I've always done, Kara. I'm just careful with people. I've learned the hard way that not everyone can be trusted, even if they claim they can."

"That's why you use a fake name? Varro knows the truth about you. Ginn. And Kiva, from what I've heard. What's the big deal? What else do I have to do to prove my commitment to you?"

"Go to Kila and stop questioning my orders. I'll see you again on my ship once you're back. You already know the address."

The conversation was over. Kara bowed again, keeping her growing irritation in check, and went through the Gate without saying a word.

"Damn you Ancients and your God complex," she hissed the moment the wormhole closed behind her. "Still thinking the galaxy is yours."

It was the most accredited theory on Atia. There weren't many beings in the galaxy with her encyclopedic knowledge of everything Ancient and Goa'uld, and usually they all turned out to be rogue Ancients that renounced to ascension or got banned by the others or simply didn't play by the rules, like Oma Desala and that guy, Orlin, that sacrificed his mind to help fight the Ori. Atia certainly got banned but found a way to retain her knowledge. Ancients were known for their long lifespan, but not even them could live for millions of years without aging at all.

Kara sighed, and moved a few tentative steps in the darkness of the anchorage. Like every piece of Ancient technology, the place reacted to her presence and all the systems started to come back to life. Kara silently prayed that the life system wouldn't play tricks on her, and she immediately reached what looked like the control interface. Thanks to their new mole in the IOA – Kiva, God bless her – Kara had seen some sketches of the Destiny tech made by Park and Volker during their leaves on Earth, and their reports about said tech were so detailed Kara already knew a little about how to use it.

Kara took from her pocket the two devices, and inserted the first one in a small hole in the console – the closest thing to an USB door Kara could find. At first, everything went dark again, but before Kara could panic the lights came back and the all systems came back online. On the screen appeared a list of directories, and Kara felt her lips curving up in a big smile. To hell with Atia, her mission, the Tau'ri, the Ancients and everything else. That was the moment she had been waiting for possibly her entire life. Ignoring the part of her brain screaming that she had to complete her mission and get out of there and back to Earth immediately, Kara opened the folders related to the Ancient warships and went straight for Destiny.

"Dear God," she whispered in awe. Inside of that file there was everything the people on Earth were dying to know about that ship: blueprints, a list of all the weaponry aboard, the schematics of the hyperdrive engines, and the entire ship's log of what happened to the ship until the moment Destiny left the galaxy. Kara opened it, and her brows furrowed a little when she was presented with the image of a young girl dressed in black leather, with the hair braided in the same elaborate style as Atia's. At first Kara guessed she was one of the ship's commanders, but after reading the rest of the profile she realized, much to her surprise, that the girl was Destiny herself.

"And now I know why she keep calling her a 'she'. Nice to meet you, Destiny," she murmured to herself, and kept reading Destiny's file. It wasn't that different from her own profile in the SGC database: it contained reviews, complaints and commendations from the crews and her commanders, and even a two-year psych evaluation after the download of Destiny's conscience into her avatar and her incarceration. Not even the stain of a mutiny could ruin what looked a spotless military career, though. Kara couldn't help but feel a great deal of admiration for her and what was able to achieve. At the bottom of that file, Kara saw a long list of female names, possibly the other sentient ships. She bit her lip. In two hours she would be back there, reading the same files… there was no need for her to do this, said the rational part of her brain. All that knowledge would still be available to her, just not immediately, and that was something her impulsive side couldn't accept. Reading Destiny's bios just made her more curious about the other AIs. Those weren't just an advanced form or life, they were almost real people. And now that she knew that, she couldn't wait to learn more.

Kara looked at her watch, and decided to read just a couple more profiles and then carry out her mission as planned. She excluded the oldest ones and the youngest – Aurora - to focus on the few coming immediately before Destiny – Tria, Leda, Freya, Karis, and Sati, the first of the second generation and the oldest among them. Sati was also the first ship to be sent on a deep-space exploration mission after being modified into a seeder ship. She was known to be a hard-working, no-nonsense soldier with no sense of humor, quite the opposite of Tria, a gifted blonde-haired diplomat that brokered some important treaties, and helped maintain the relationships between the other races and the Ancients. Tria's ability to understand the people around her, unfortunately, was also the cause of her downfall: her commander fell in love with her, to the point of abandoning his wife to be with her. Tria was sentenced to meet a sun and die, and a footnote on her file reported that her commander refused to abandon the ship once he set the collision course, thus choosing to die with his lover. Tria though, Kara realized reading the other bios, was just the first on a streak of rebels the Ancients weren't expecting at all. Before Destiny took part in that mutiny that almost cost the girl her life, Freya – the other diplomat of the 'family' – was getting known in the conservative Ancient society for being too much of a free-thinker, that believed all of her 'sisters' had to be considered an integral part of the crew and not just a thing, to be discarded without much thought when it stopped being useful. Freya disappeared during a battle, and was presumed dead along with her crew. Kara mistakenly believed Freya to be the most rebellious one in her generation, but her assumption lasted just a few seconds, until she began reading Karis' files.

It took less than a second to Kara to realize Karis wasn't just a rebel like Tria, Destiny and Freya, but a damn thorn in the Ancient's fleet side. She was too gifted a soldier – and as good as a battle strategist as Destiny – not to be used in battle, but she was known to foment disorders against her commanders any occasion she had if she believed them not to be worthy of that position, which happened often. She was sentenced to death for treason after trying to kill her current commander, a man named Safir, but she escaped prior to her sentence and no one ever heard of her again. She was suspected, though, to support and provide intel for a rebellious faction of deserters and scientists that firmly opposed to the moral, social and political changes in their society. Unlike the other files, Kara read every single word of Karis' profile, everything she did and everything she was allegedly accused of, and only after her curiosity was finally sated Kara resumed her mission and uploaded the virus Atia gave her. She couldn't help but smile while Karis' picture and information were slowly corroded by the program, and stayed until she was sure that profile would be impossible to restore. Only then, she dialed the address of Atia's ship and disappeared inside the event horizon.

That smug smile was still there when she asked to see Atia in private, and it just grew bigger when Atia joined her on the observation deck.

"Everything went according to plan."

"Very good. But that's not the reason you're smiling."

"No, it's not. Is this Asgard tech?" Kara commented casually, observing the ship.

"The last surviving O'Neill-class warship of the universe, actually. A gift from an old friend for my help with the Replicators."

"I bet he was. A very old one, I mean. As old as you are, probably. Am I wrong, _Karis_?"

Karis looked at Kara for an instant, and then gave her a malicious smile. "You couldn't help yourself, could you?"

Kara slowly shook her head. "Come on, you should know me by now. You don't place me in a room with possibly the oldest and biggest Ancient database this side of the universe and expect me not to give a look. Unless, of course, you wanted me to give a look."

"I guess you're feeling an idiot for your outburst now."

"Maybe a little. Of all the outlandish theories on you…"

"Now you know why it has to be kept secret. I'm perfectly aware most people believe me to be a formerly ascended Ancient, and I'm fine with that. I'm not entirely sure they would follow me if they knew the truth about my origins."

"You're a human being that knows a lot about what's going on and happens to have very advanced nanite technology in her bloodstream and a very long lifespan. There are worse things to worry about. Like the rest of the Alliance, for starters. Guess you weren't expecting this when you created it."

"Not exactly, no. Our goal was to keep our traditions alive and do what we were trained to do, to protect the galaxy when the other Ancients left. Then the Goa'uld rose and everything went to hell. By the time it was possible to rebuild the Alliance, no one remembered its true meaning but a few."

"And the Asgards."

"We were old friends, Thor and I. I warned him about the Goa'uld, and he gave me this ship after mine got destroyed in battle. He told me to keep an eye on the galaxy and the Tau'ri, and that's exactly what I'm doing."

"By sabotaging them?"

"Sometimes I help, sometimes I slow them down. I do what needs to be done."

"There's more to this. I can tell. Why is so important for you to reach Destiny before them?"

Karis smiled and caressed a tattoo of the Earth glyph on her right wrist. The old symbol representing the Lucian Alliance before its meaning was forgotten.

"Because it's time for my sister and I to meet again," she said, looking at the tattoo. "Destiny has a promise to keep."

Before Kara could push her luck and ask what Karis meant with that, her leader told her it was time for her to go back on Earth.

"What about the mission?"

"Find a way to stay on Earth. I don't want to risk your cover."

"Alright. Thanks for your time, Karis."

"Atia," Karis corrected her with a small smile. Kara nodded.

"Right, Atia. To our next meeting, then. My lady," said Kara. She bowed again and left the observation deck. She was back on Earth a few moments later, still processing what had just discovered on their leader and the Ancient ships of the Old Era. Atia was Karis. The old warships were sentient, to the point of becoming humans once downloaded into their avatars. Karis was the legendary founder of the Lucian Alliance and her current leader.

And somehow, Destiny was involved with her.

"Oy!" said Koz, snapping her out of her reverie. "Everything's alright in there?"

"Yeah… Yeah, everything's fine. If you should find a way to avoid doing something, what would you do?"

"An offworld mission?"

"Our leader's orders."

Koz thought about it for a second and then smiled in a way that Kara didn't like at all, before presenting her with a couple of red pills that, according to him, would make her sick enough to stay in the infirmary for a couple of days. Kara eyed the pills suspiciously, but swallowed them with the glass of water that Koz offered her and then headed back to the base, with the coffee she had promised to her friends.

She started feeling queasy around the time she parked her car inside the base, and started feeling even worse the moment she stepped into the elevator. By the time she reached the right sublevel, she was having troubles walking straight and her sight was blurry. She was feeling feverish too.

"Look who finally showed up!" Mitchell reprimanded her as soon as he saw her. Kara tried to talk, but she was feeling too sick to reply with more than a whimper. Koz was going to pay for that, she promised herself before she lost consciousness and fell on the floor.

* * *

Kara woke up two days later, with a massive headache and her entire team at her bedside, ready to taunt her about Kila, the incredible amount of data they recovered even if the database was corrupted, and how good was to see Carter and Jackson on the field. She even managed to crack an amused smiled when Steve told her how Jackson reacted when he saw the database for the first time – something, he assured her, he never saw outside of a sci-fi convention.

"Atlantis was good, but this is better," said Mitchell. "Such a pity you weren't there with us, Isabel."

"I guess this was just how things had to go," replied Kara, thinking again of Karis and her sisters. If the virus had worked properly, and she was sure it did, now there wasn't a thing that could connect Atia and Karis. Her boss' secrets would stay that way for a little longer.

She wasn't sure, though, if the same could be said for Destiny, and the promise she had made to Karis. Something that somehow was still relevant, even after million of years…

Those were her last thoughts before falling asleep again.

* * *

**I don't know exactly where this chapter came out from, but I was dying to introduce Karis in the story. She'll come back in the later chapters. The next one will focus again on Destiny and Freya, with Freya revealing Destiny why she's on the other side of the universe and what happened to Aurora, Destiny's younger sister.**


	12. Mission

Destiny and Freya grinned at each other, savoring the feeling of being reunited after such a long time.

"No idea, huh?" snorted Destiny. "We'll see, dear. I had my fair share of crazy adventures too, just so you know. I still can't believe it… you're here! And you're alive! But if you're here… what happened to Leda? Do you know something about the milestone?"

"Dee… I am the milestone," replied Freya. "As for Leda, we switched places. She stayed with the others while I came here. Something about me being the only one that could knock some sense into that thick head of yours."

"_The others_?" frowned Destiny. "What… what do you mean the others? How many of our sisters are still alive?"

Freya's smile faltered a little, and she bit her lip. "When I came here, I left behind four of our sisters: Leda, Sati, Aurora and Iras. There were five at first, but Tria… well that's one hell of a story too."

Destiny stared at her sister, trying her best not to leave her jaw hanging… something that hadn't happened to her in a very long, long time. "_Tria_? Tria met a sun and died with her commander, everyone knows that!"

Freya grinned again, amused by her little sister's surprise. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear. But don't worry, that's just the first of a series of lies I'm going to expose to you. Shall we?"

Rush coughed a couple of times, to remind Destiny she wasn't alone in there. Freya looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and asked Destiny who the hell he was.

"Is he… one of them?" she said, indicating him with her head.

"An _Ancient_? Great ancestors, not even remotely!" she laughed, earning a bad glare from Rush. "His name is Nicholas Rush, he's my chief scientific officer. I have a new crew now, and they all come from Atlantus… well, Earth. The people from that planet took over the Gate network in the Milky Way and they're doing the same in the Pegasus galaxy as well. Atlantis has become their base there."

"Oh. And is she…?"

"No. Deaf, blind and mute. Or so it appears from what I've heard."

Freya narrowed her eyes and muttered something in Ancient that Rush couldn't understand.

"Couldn't agree more. Freya, my commander is waiting for us outside this obelisk. Maybe if he could come here, talk to you…"

"He can't. He," and he indicated Rush with her head, "made it through just because he entered with you, your commander would just crash against the force field."

"Then you'll have to be the one to come out of here."

"Yeah, well, about that… I can't."

Destiny watched her sister's frozen body at her feet, and then looked at Freya's hologram with a raised eyebrow. "And the problem would be…?"

"I'm sick, sister. I don't know what it is, or how I got it… I just know that one day my nanites started attacking my body instead of healing it. Coming here, spend time in stasis, was the only way I had to prolong my life. I have no idea of what could happen if I get out now."

"I'll get you some of my nanites, here's what happens. I can get some from the infirmary."

"No," replied Freya, crossing her arms over her chest. "You might need them."

"You're in no position to argue, Freya."

Freya smiled, nodding slowly. "Arrogant and bossy as always. Glad to see this didn't change."

"So? Are you coming out, sister, or I'll have to drag you out myself?"

Freya rolled her eyes, and the hologram disappeared. At the same time, the stasis pod went dark and the glass retracted into the floor a few instants later, revealing Freya. The woman's eyes were still closed, but she was already moving her fingers, trying to get reacquainted with her body after so many centuries spent as pure conscience. After a deep breath, Freya opened her eyes and took a sitting position and, with a little help from Destiny, she came out of the stasis pod. Freya held onto Destiny for a couple minutes more, until she was sure she could stand on her feet without falling, and she stared at Rush the whole time.

"Why are you here?" she asked him with a curious look in her eyes.

"Like you said," he calmly replied, "Your sister dragged me inside."

"No, I meant…. Why are you here in this galaxy. With Destiny. On the ship! This wasn't supposed to happen. At this point, we should all be free."

"I am free, sister," objected Destiny.

"You have a commander. That's not freedom."

"You haven't met him yet."

"I'll reserve the right to change my judgment then. But I don't think it will happen. They're all the same, Ancients or not."

"I can't say your sister is wrong," commented Rush, immediately earning a death glare from Destiny.

"And I don't care what you think, Rush. Freya, Janek himself officiated The Oath. I trust his judgment."

At the mention of Janek's name, Freya looked extremely surprised. She wasn't expecting to hear that, but all things considered, it made sense. From what she knew about Janek and the men of the Sar family, they all considered Destiny one of them – family, even. Garim raised her, Ari was her friend and Janek always treated her like a sister. If he took the time to come down there and to give Destiny's new commander his blessing, then he couldn't be that bad.

"Well, if your beloved commander said so… Good. I'm ready to go," said Freya, motioning for Destiny to lead the way out of there. Destiny walked to the force field, and once again touched it with her hand, feeling it weaker than it did earlier. Taking a deep breath, Destiny closed her eyes and crossed over again. She closed her eyes shut immediately. After spending some time inside the obelisk, the sunlight now felt almost blinding to her.

"Destiny!" exclaimed Scott, moving closer to her. "Are you ok?"

"What happened, Destiny?" asked Young. "And where's Rush?"

"I'm here," said Rush, getting out of the obelisk. He turned to look at the force field, feeling it again firm and solid as the rock around it, but he had to remove the hand the moment Freya decided to get out of there as well, just a few seconds after Destiny had explained what – who – she had found inside the black obelisk. The men both frowned at the fair-skinned, black-haired woman that came out of the obelisk smiling; Scott's frown became deeper, though, when he realized Freya was checking him out with a malicious grin.

"Is he your captain, sister?" she asked, without hiding her appreciation for the young soldier's physical appearance. "He's kind of cute. Already taken?"

Trying her hardest not to laugh at Scott's shocked expression, Destiny told Freya that no, Lieutenant Scott was the second-in-command and that the older man next to him, Colonel Young, was indeed her commander.

"And they're _both_ taken, so don't even bother."

"Shame," Freya said, feigning a pout. "I could've used a little distraction after centuries spent in the fridge." She gave another longing look at the young lieutenant, that felt the burning urge to hide behind his commander - or the nearest tree.

"Freya," said Young, urging to change topic. "It's an honor to meet you. We would've never imagined to find one of Destiny's sisters still alive and well."

"And I would've never imagined my sister would still have a crew to command her, so I guess we're both surprised," she replied, sarcasm dripping heavily from every word..

"Freya, behave," hissed Destiny, giving her sister a bad look.

"Oh, for the Ancestor's sake, is freedom of speech forbidden now?"

Young chuckled. "She's indeed your sister, Destiny. I can see the resemblance. Freya, our camp is not far from here, and I'm sure our people would be thrilled to meet you."

"I'm sure they would. Besides, I'm starving. I'd kill for a steak, actually."

"Oh, no need to worry about that," joked Scott. "Right, Dee?"

"Go to hell."

"This is all very charming, but I think the others are starting to wonder where we are," interrupted Rush, clearly annoyed. "Shall we?"

"Yes, Doctor, we shall," replied Destiny, with the clear intention of mocking him. "After you, then."

Rush started walking towards the woods, and Young and Scott followed shortly. Freya gave Destiny a questioning look, but her sister just ignored her. She knew Freya would start pestering her the moment they would be out of curious ears' reach; she just wanted to enjoy peace until it lasted… in other words, until they would reach the camp and everyone would see who they had brought back from the obelisk.

* * *

_Destiny can't help but smile when she and the others arrive at the camp and she introduces her sister to her crew. They were expecting a beacon, not a black haired beauty with sapphire blue eyes, and Destiny can't help but feel sorry for Eli, still in the infirmary. He would've been so excited to meet her. _

_The crew's reaction is a mixture of shock and excitement. Yes, they knew from Destiny that many of her sisters were traveling ahead of her, but seeing one of them in the flesh before their eyes was something entirely different. They starts asking questions – why was she there, how did she end up in the obelisk – but Freya just smiles and doesn't answer. She just says she's hungry and she would kill for some cooked flesh; again, everyone chuckles and looks at Destiny, who just sighs and shakes her head._

_Destiny keeps her eyes on Freya the whole time, but she can't see any signs of sickness in her, maybe because of her long stay in that stasis pod. She laughs, she tells stories about her time in the Ancient fleet, and much to Destiny's dismay, she also loves to share embarrassing anecdotes about her younger sister, like that one time Janek brought his wife aboard and Destiny refused to bow in front of her, acting more like a jealous kid sister rather than a soldier. The more everyone laugh, the more Destiny's eyes narrow in rage. All it takes is a glance at her sister, though, to realize Freya is doing it on purpose: she wants to… what, exactly? Fight?_

_The simple thought of a sparring match against – finally – a worthy opponent, is simply too tempting to be ignored. And it's been centuries since the last time. Yes, she spars with Greer and the other soldiers, but it's not the same. She's Freya, her long-lost sister… and she won't bruise easily like the soldiers of her crew._

_Destiny patiently waits until Freya is done with her stories, then she point a finger and openly challenges her. Freya has the nerve to laugh, and getting up from the ground she says her little sister is no match for her. I'm just sorry, she adds, your crew will have to see you getting your ass kicked._

_Destiny snorted. Yeah, as if. It takes less than ten minutes to find a suitable clearing and fifteen more for Freya to fetch her Nassa from the obelisk, while the crew secretly place their bets on the upcoming fight. They know Destiny, and they know how good she is in a fight. There's no way her sister, a diplomat, can be better than her, but they change their minds the moment the fight starts. Freya doesn't wait a second to hit Destiny hard on the face, and Destiny smiles, wiping the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. Her sister wanted to play hard? Fine by her, she thinks, delivering a kick that sends Freya on the ground near the trees. They both reach for their weapon; the pleasantries are now officially over. _

_The crew observe their movements, and they can't help but marvel at their ability with that weapon. Greer watches with attention, trying to memorize as many moves as possible, and Scott almost forgets to breathe when Destiny dodges at the last second the sharp blade of Freya's weapon and uses the wooden part of her stick to make Freya trip and fall on the ground. Destiny sees Rush smirking at that move, but she has no time to analyze that reaction because something else has just happened. She can see it in Freya's eyes when she gets back on her feet and declares the fight is over._

_Freya must've seen the tattoo._

* * *

Destiny looked at her sister. Freya had been silent since the end of their fight, except for the few words she said to the crew during dinner, and while she pretended to be her usual self Destiny could tell she was barely containing her anger. A few glares directed at her when the others were distracted were a blatant proof of that. Destiny sighed, and finished her meal before getting back on her feet and back to the shuttle. She had convinced Colonel Young to let her take Freya to the ship infirmary to perform some exams and establish the gravity of Freya's conditions. She seemed fine, but she didn't want to risk her sister's health.

Freya followed without arguing, saying she was curious to see how the ship was holding up after all those centuries, but the moment the shuttle left the planet, Freya's courtesy mask disappeared.

"I put that glyph there because I knew you were a sympathizer, but I can't believe you were stupid enough to actually do it! I would've expected that from Karis, but I hoped you had more common sense than her!"

"Funny, I thought you more than anybody else would've understood Karis' ideas."

"That's not funny at all!" hissed Freya. "This is _treason_!"

"Against a government that doesn't exist anymore. So, exactly, why are you so angry at me?"

"Why? You are asking me why? _You sided with the Lucian alliance_! With the people that wanted to destroy our civilization! Or you just happen to have their symbol tattooed on your neck?"

Destiny snickered, amused by her sister's indignation. "Ok, sister. The Alliance wanted to _preserve_ our civilization, not to destroy it. We just didn't like the turn the Ancient society was taking. All those talks about erasing the past and their past actions… they wanted to forget what they did to pacify the galaxy. Apparently the amount of lives lost and blood shed was too much for them to handle, they wanted to rewrite history. That wasn't fair."

Freya snorted, and laid against the back of the seat. "So you're telling me you didn't embark on this one-way trip to forget what happened, too? That's bullshit, Dee, and you know it."

"Sorry, did we have a choice? I don't actually remember that part!"

"Does your commander know?"

"No," replied Destiny, firmly staring to space. "And I don't plan on telling him. The Alliance is still alive and well, but from what I've heard its goals have changed."

"The Alliance still exists? So, Karis…?"

"You think she's still alive?"

"She proved herself to be very hard to kill."

"It's not like I can ask, but I'm betting no. She took an oath to protect the galaxy, not to endanger it. The Alliance is now a group of thieves, smugglers and outlaws."

"Just like the old days, then."

"They had a _purpose_ in the old days. A strong guide. This should've never happened."

"But it _did_."

Destiny let out a long suffering sigh. "Trying to make me feel guilty, sister? It's a little too late for that."

Freya chuckled. Now it was her turn to be amused by her sister's words. "Oh, believe me, Dee… In this discussion I can hardly take the moral high ground. You'll understand why soon enough."

"And that would be…?"

"Like I said. Soon enough."

Freya didn't seem interested in revealing anything more than that, and Destiny sighed, initiating the docking procedures. Thanks to the fact the majority of the crew was down on the planet, Destiny and Freya made it to the infirmary virtually unnoticed and began the Freya's medical examination.

"You know," said Destiny, waiting for the result to appear onscreen. "There's also another way to heal you. You can remove your nanites for good and be a normal human being."

"No. This is who I am. I was created like this, and I intend to die like this. So… no, thanks."

"That's suicide."

"And flying yourself into a sun isn't?" said Freya, hopping down from the cot. "I had a very long life. I got to see things I wouldn't have dreamt of. I met you again. I'm quite satisfied."

"I will find a way to keep you around."

"They didn't. And believe me, they tried."

"Well, I don't know what our sisters tried, but I have many scientists at my disposal here."

Freya smirked. "And so did I."

"Sorry… what?"

Freya smiled some more. "Come on, Dee. I'm sure you can figure it out. We were alone, we were lonely, and we were angry at the Ancients for exiling us. The only people we were longing to be with had died long ago. But their DNA was still there… and our little Aurora never backs down from a good challenge."

Destiny gasped in shock, her jaw hanging open for the second time that day. It took her a while to actually wrap her head about what her sister had just told her, but when she did, her face was the picture of rage.

"That was wrong. So wrong, and on so many levels. Great Ancestors, Freya, how _could_ you?"

"With science, Dee. Same as always. We wanted to be with our friends again."

"They weren't your friends, just genetic duplicates."

"We knew. We hoped we could be family again… and in a way, that was what happened. We found a planet, we colonized it, and our crews started to build a new civilization. The only difference was that this time we were seen as the matriarch of a new race. People respected us, loved us. Can you imagine? It was everything we ever wanted, and we finally got it."

"But you're here. What happened?"

"Let's start from the beginning. Aurora, that crazy little sister of ours… she accomplished something I would've never imagined to see: a jump to the other side of the universe using, well, that equation."

"WHAT?" shouted Destiny, "She used Project Arcturus to power her FTL drive? She could've died, and her crew with her! There's a good reason why that project was abandoned, it's too dangerous! Remember the battle of Venis? One shot of a plasma cannon using that form of energy wiped out a quarter of a galaxy!"

"A _small_ galaxy" pointed out Freya.

"A _galaxy_, sister. Period! How could she be so reckless?"

"How? Think about it, sister, it's not that difficult."

It took a second for Freya's words to sink in. Aurora was impulsive, but she would've never risked her crew – even a crew made of prisoners – just to prove a point. There had to be something else, and Destiny was afraid she already knew the reason behind the act.

"It was Haldran, wasn't it?" she whispered.

"Let's just say he kept resenting you until he died. But you weren't there, Aurora was. Alaric did his best, but he couldn't protect her from him. So Aurora took matters into her own hands, and decided to get help where she was most likely to find it."

"From our older sisters, and you."

"And she got it. The crew sided with us. Haldran wasn't so enlightened."

"Did you kill him?"

"We gave him a choice, to let go and start over with us. He said he would've chosen death a thousand time over rather than live in a world where we were equal to him. We granted his wish."

"And he cursed my name?"

"With his dying breath. Considering he was tossed out of an airlock, it didn't last long," said Freya, pausing her tale to observe Destiny's reaction. She was awfully quiet for someone just informed that her sworn enemy and torturer had died by the hands of her sisters. It was like she was fighting an inner battle to decide what she was supposed to feel.

Eventually, a smirk slowly appeared on her face.

"Good."

"Praise the ancestors, for a moment you had me worried" said Freya, hugging her sister's shoulders with one arm. "Now, about the equation…"

"Whatever you want to do with it, it doesn't concern me. I want nothing to do with Project Arcturus!"

"Do the others share your decision?"

"They encountered Project Arcturus before. They know it's dangerous."

"Destiny, Aurora is living proof that equation can work safely, and you have enough scientists here to work on it!"

"Tell me a good reason why!"

"To send them all home!" shouted Freya. "Send them back to Earth, and come to Helia with me. Everyone has been waiting for you for centuries, Dee. It's time to finally come home. Let me do this for you, sister. Please."

Destiny didn't know what to say. "I-I need to think about it."

"Please do. Now, what does the scanner say?"

Destiny had to take one deep breath before reading the scanner results. Freya didn't exaggerate when she said she had many things to share, and after that round of pretty startling news Destiny felt completely drained. Her head was spinning, and her concentration was gone: she had to read the results three times before actually understanding them.

"Even changing the nanites doesn't work," Freya said quietly. "Whoever infected me made sure some of the old nanites would stay hidden and keep infecting the new ones. There's nothing you can do."

And as much as Destiny hated to admit it, that was just the harsh truth.

"But you must have some suspicions."

"No one on Helia would ever raise a finger against one of us. My bet is that someone close to that bastard did it to me during the mutiny. It wouldn't surprise me one bit."

"Yeah, me neither."

"So… what are your plans for me, sister?"

"There's my stasis pod. I want you to go in there immediately. I refuse to accept I'm losing you now that we found each other again!"

Freya nodded. "Ok, then. Let's do it."

* * *

_It is incredibly easy for Destiny to get the skeleton crew in service on the bridge to take a break and enjoy some of the exotic fruit she's brought back with her, and no one raises an objection when she asks them to leave her alone in there for half an hour or more. Maintenance is still her magic word for everything. _

_A smile appears on her face, remembering the last time someone opened the secret door that led to the mainframe and found her there, slumbering. Destiny feels guilty for not introducing Freya to Eli, but she intends to make it up to him as soon as her sister is one again safely in stasis. _

_She barely suppresses a smile when Freya enters the pod, dressed with one of Destiny's old uniforms and with the hair braided like they used to in the Old Era. The two sisters doesn't talk, they just exchange a smile and an heartfelt 'See you soon'. Then Destiny closes the pod from her side and Freya closes her eyes and once again goes back to her eternal sleep. The next thing Destiny has to do is to manually override the default process – the download of her conscience into the mainframe, standard procedure when the human avatar was put in stasis – but with surprise she discovers that Freya is already there, updating files and creating new ones. Destiny's eyes narrows as she angrily marches up to the Chair room. How DARE she? That's not her ship, for the Ancestors' sake! What does she think she's doing?_

_It takes Destiny less than a second to interface with the Chair and even less to locate Freya in the virtual Atlantis. She's wearing the same smug smile she had earlier that day, when she provoked her into fighting against her, and something tells Destiny she has just fallen – again – in one of her sister's traps. Maybe she's not that good at recognizing manipulation anymore, or more probably, she forgot how Freya is like when she truly wants something from someone – in this case, her._

"_Before you start yelling at me, I just updated the navigation maps and the planet database. I'm the milestone, after all."_

"_And?"_

"_And I gave you all the information you need on Project Arcturus. Doctor Rush looks like a promising candidate. He'll make it."_

"_And destroy the ship in the process!"_

"_Then make sure he doesn't."_

"_Careful. You're forcing my hand, Freya."_

"_Someone has to. Go through the data, see for yourself the progresses we've made. Are you so attached to this crew already that you would put them above me? Above your own family?"_

_That's a low blow, and Destiny is left speechless. She's come to love and respect her crew, she's made friends among them – Eli especially – but her family, her sisters, are calling for her. The knowledge that somewhere Sati, Aurora, Iras and Leda are waiting for her is filling her heart with joy and relief. Would it be that bad a betrayal if she took the crew there? They would go home, like they always wanted. And she would find peace at last. _

"_Like I said," she whispers in the end, "I'll need to think about it. Right now I would be immensely grateful if you stop messing around my mainframe, sister."_

"_As you wish," smiles Freya, watching Destiny disappear from the virtual reality and go back to the physical world. She doesn't know Freya's uploaded a copy of the equation among Rush's personal files, and for a second she feels sorry for lying to her little sister again. But Destiny is Destiny, stubborn like hell, and she'll never do something she's not convinced of unless someone pushes her to. _

_And Rush, Freya is certain of it, he's nothing but the right man for that job. _


	13. Alike, part one

**Hey there... first things first, sorry for the absurdly long wait. And thanks to my new beta, Bishie Huntress, and all the people that kept reading this ****fic and left me reviews. I hope you'll like this chapter!**

* * *

Eli shifted in his sleep, uncomfortable all of sudden. He felt.. observed. He frowned slightly and tried to get back to sleep, but the weird feeling just didn't go away. Weird feeling indeed, considering that among the other ten unlucky crewmembers that because of allergies, accidents and whatnot didn't get to experience the magnificent planet they discovered three weeks earlier, neither of them was so close a friend of his – or such a creep – to actually sneak up into his room to watch him sleep.

He cautiously opened one eye, and saw barefoot feet, a familiar pair of long legs in gray sweatpants raised on his bed, and equally familiar hands nursing a cup of tea in her lap. That immediately raised his spirit.

"Well," he said with a still sleepy smile. "Took you long enough."

Destiny gave him a warm smile and squeezed his hand. "Hi, Eli. Out of the infirmary, I see… How are you doing?"

Eli stretched his arms and yawned."TJ on her last trip back here gave me some very nice stuff. Besides, I enjoy having some time off…" he said, showing Dee a couple of books he had on a chair. Both were hers, from the bookshelves she had in her quarters, and both were about Ancient history and the Pilgrimage that brought the Alterans in the Milky Way.

"You said I could help myself," he said, suddenly unsure.

"And you did. Good for you. So, what do you think?"

"My Old Ancient is still not perfect but… wow. The Old Era must've been _incredible_," said Eli, his eyes shining in awe.

"Incredibly hard and dangerous," Destiny corrected him. "With incredibly hard and dangerous decisions to make every other day."

Eli rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, Dee… You tell me you don't miss fighting battles like the battle of Venis? Or the siege of Aegeris? Dear God, that one was epic!"

"For the Ancestors," laughed Destiny, "You really read them from cover to cover, didn't you?"

"Come on, Dee! You're in a freaking _history book_! You defeated an entire army by yourself… They even named you the Hero of Venis!"

Destiny's smile vanished from her face the moment she heard that title."I won the battle, and left a tons of destruction in my wake. I'm not proud of it."

"You always say that. Have you ever been proud of something you _did_?"

"I say that because it's true," retorted Destiny. "I fight because it's who I am, but that doesn't mean I like it."

"Rumor has it this might not be entirely true," he sang-song.

Destiny tiled her head, suddenly curious. "And that would mean…?"

Eli once again looked at her with wide eyes and a big grin. "I heard of a fight on the planet. You used your Nassa! I so wished I were there to see it."

"Maybe next time."

"You can bet on it! But tell me, who was the one crazy enough to challenge you?"

Destiny gave him a conspiratorial smile. "Are you ready? This is going to be _good_."

It took Destiny half an hour to explain Freya's presence on the planet in detail, and then fifteen minutes to convince Eli to stay in bed and not run to the Chair room to meet Freya in person.

"But _whyyy_?" he whined. "I want to meet your sister!"

"And you will as soon as you'll get a clear bill of health from TJ. I promise. But I want a promise from you as well."

"Sure. What do you want?"

"Whatever Freya wants, she must not get."

"Ok, sure… What?"

"Freya… well, she wants me to do something I'm not certain it's in our best interests, and she'll try everything to push me in that direction. Plus, she would _love_ for me to get rid of you."

Eli frowned. "She wants us… gone? Why?"

"She seems convinced you're enslaving me when by now I should be free to do whatever I please."

Eli raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "I'm sorry, has your sister ever met you? And what does Young say about this?"

"I haven't talked to him yet."

"You should."

"Yeah, I know… I'll do it when he's back here with the rest of the crew. I certainly don't want to ruin the only chance at relaxation my crew is going to have for your God knows how long."

"….And thanks for reminding me where I've been all this time."

"Sorry, Eli," Destiny grimaced, squeezing his hand again. "I didn't mean to."

"It's ok. But now Freya is allowed to tell me at least one truly embarrassing anecdote about your younger years."

"Deal. Well, I'll be on the bridge if you need me," said Destiny, getting her feet back on the floor. Eli smiled and waved at her before she left, and Destiny did her best to keep a positive face until the door closed behind her. The moment Eli couldn't see her any longer, Destiny sighed and headed straight for the old Control room. She checked again, for what seemed like the millionth time, that Freya couldn't in any way access the mainframe again, and out of curiosity she brought onscreen the equation Freya uploaded earlier. She slowly walked until she was inches away from the virtual representation and silently observed Aurora's calculations and read all of her notes. Her sister was onto something, she had to give her that, but it didn't change the fact that of all the simulations Destiny ran, only one concluded with an happy ending for everyone. The outcome of some of the others were even worse than Destiny's predictions, which already included the death of most of the crew and the destruction of the ship.

She couldn't allow it, Destiny firmly said to herself. She quickly moved back to the console, ending the visual representation and recalling all the files related to Project Arcturus uploaded in the mainframe. All it would take was the slightest pressure of her index on the small screen in front of her, and it would've been like they had never existed. She never mentioned the files by name to Eli, she could've referred to a million of other things. She was the highest officer on the ship at the moment, no one would ask her questions… then why she couldn't bring herself to do what she _knew_ was right?

Just two words: Colonel Young.

"Son of a bitch," she groaned, shaking her head. "When exactly did you start exercising all this power over me?"

Somewhere in another plan of existence, Janek was smirking and feeling all proud of himself for being such a good judge of characters, Destiny was sure of that. Before she could change her mind again, Destiny switched the interface off and left the room, heading straight to the bridge like she was supposed to.

Destiny sat in the commander chair without saying a word, and opened a communication link between the ship and the planet. She found Brody at the other side of the line, and without saying anything relevant she asked him to send the Colonel back up there as soon as possible.

"Dee, what's wrong? You look nervous."

"Nah, I'm fine. I just forgot what's like to be in here. It's all that damn planet's fault!" she laughed, hoping Brody would buy it. And luckily for her, he did.

"If it's hard for you, I can't imagine what's going to be for us. Anyway… I'll send you the Colonel as soon as he back from his hunting trip."

"Thanks, Brody. Destiny out," said Destiny, ending the conversation and resting her head against the chair. She nervously started to tapping her fingers against the metal, wondering how long it would take for Young to actually get back there, and after a few seconds she jumped out of the chair, unable to stay put and wait for him to show up. As much as she loved delegating the most tedious tasks to her now trained crew, there were still some maintenance procedures she preferred to keep for herself, and deal with them until Young came aboard to discuss what to do with that equation seemed like the best option Destiny had at the moment. Maybe she would stop counting the seconds until his arrival.

She didn't. Young came aboard two hours, thirty-six minutes and thirteen seconds later, just after she finished a minor repair to the life support system, and wasting no time in pleasantries Destiny immediately dragged him to the control interface.

"Destiny, for crying out loud!" protested Young. "What happened? Why are you so upset?"

"What happened, sir?" said Destiny, letting him go and starting to work the interface. "_This_. This happened."

Destiny pressed a key, and the holographic projection of the equation filled the room.

Young moved closer, watching the numbers and symbols in front of him. "What am I looking at?"

"Trouble. What do you know about Project Arcturus?"

"What was written in the reports, but I'm no scientist. It was the last attempt from the Ancients to find a source of energy before inventing ZPMs."

"And?"

"And that Doctor McKay destroyed three quarters of a solar system with it in the Pegasus galaxy."

"Lucky guy. When I was forced to use it to power the plasma cannon on this ship, I destroyed a quarter of a galaxy."

Young's eyes widened slightly, but if he was shocked by Destiny's words he did a good job of not showing it. "And why are you bringing this up? Why now?"

"Because my dear sister wants me to," said Destiny. "Sir, there are things you don't know… about what happened to my older sisters, about what they did. But you must know, I don't approve of their actions or methods. There are lines that just shouldn't be crossed."

Young frowned at Destiny's obvious distress. "Then please tell me what's really going on here."

Destiny slowly nodded, and she started filling in her commander about Aurora's jump, the reunion with the other sisters, Haldran's execution and their decision to start a new civilization from scratch. Destiny felt Young's eyes on her while she described how her former commander and torturer met his death, and she didn't miss the shock in his eyes when she explained in detail how the other AIs decided to take a page out of the Ancients' book and create life themselves. The idea of a planet inhabited by a second evolution of the Ancient race, though – people that, he made Destiny notice, had been waiting for her arrival for ages – was something he wasn't expecting to hear. Something he wasn't as ready as Destiny to dismiss so quickly.

"So you're telling me there's an inhabited planet out there, populated by an Ancient race and probably as advanced as they were back in your time. How is that a _bad_ thing, Destiny?"

"It's not. At least, I hope so. It's just… Freya gave me this equation because she wanted it solved for some reason, besides helping me getting rid of you. And she wants me on Helia, again for some reason she will certainly not share with me until I'll get there."

"You want to get rid of the equation."

Destiny sighed, lowering her eyes for a second while she looked for the right words to say. "Your people saw with their own eyes how destructive Project Arcturus can be. I won't unleash it on the universe again. Unless, of course, you make that an order. In that case I wouldn't have other choice but to obey."

Young glanced at the equation in front of him and sighed as well. That wasn't an easy decision to make: right there, there was probably the only chance for his people to ever get back home, something he was starting to think it would've never happened. But on the other hand, there was what Destiny had just told him. And if his tough-as-nails and fearless XO looked so stressed and scared at the mere thought of using that equation, maybe he should take a step back and analyze the question a bit longer before starting to celebrate the unexpected miracle.

"We're heading to Helia, Destiny. This," and he gestured at the equation, "won't change the fact we need help and they might have other ways to get us home. As for solving this equation… I'm sure you ran some simulation before my arrival. I'd love to see them."

"Yes, sir."

"Give me 48 hours. This is not a decision we can make lightly."

"Of course," nodded Destiny.

"Good. Start calculating a route for Helia and how long it will take us to get there at our current FTL speed. We'll replenish our food and water supplies accordingly."

"That won't be a problem. I was planning to fill our storage units to the roof anyway."

Young nodded. "Well, then. You're dismissed."

Destiny bowed her head slightly, and left the room.

* * *

_Destiny had promised herself to stay away from Young and not to influence his decision any more than she already did, but she can't help herself. She's worried. What if he ignores her? What if he decides to take that risk? He has a wife on Earth. Eli has a sick mother. Chloe too, in a way, since her mother has the same fondness for alcohol Tamra had. And Camille has her lover. Sharon._

_Destiny can't stand the woman but, damn it, she can recognize love when she sees it. When she mentions Sharon, Camille has the same look Aurora had in her eyes every time she talked about Alaric and vice versa. And Destiny can't deny it, she'd love to see for herself how the Milky Way evolved, and what the hell happened to the Lucian Alliance… and Karis. But, and Destiny will never get tired of repeating it, she's seen what that thing did. The damage. The death it left in its wake… that she left in her wake. The Hero of Venis. Sometimes she wishes that title went to someone else. Destiny is not a hero, she's just a soldier. She fights to protect her people from the enemies that want to see them destroyed, and if this time the enemy is them, well, so be it. They can go back hating her if this is the price she has to pay, but at least they'll be alive. And that's all that counts in the end. _

_Thirty-six hours later, Young summons her in his quarters and after telling her he's seen all her projections over and over again he confesses her he still doesn't know what to do. Right there, there's the answer to everybody's prayers. An almost certain way to get back home. But, he continues, the more he watched Destiny's projections, the more his confidence faded. Sure, we could make it there. Just, not in one piece. How could he let this happen? "I swore to protect these people," Young says to Destiny, "and we've already been through so much. I'm not Rush. I won't lead my crew into this if I can't be more than one-hundred percent sure we'll all make it." _

_The safest choice is to do what Destiny wanted to do in the first place: delete the equation and let this die for everybody's sake. Young just doesn't know if he can live with the knowledge he's deliberately kept something this big from his people. He's no good at keeping secrets, and his ill-concealed affair with TJ proves it. But Destiny is, and she'll carry the burden for both of them if she'll have to._

_The erase the equation together._

_Neither of them say a word afterwards._


	14. Alike, part two

When a few days later the shuttle landed near their camp and both Destiny and Young came out of it, the rest of the crew immediately realized their vacation was about to be over. What made a few eyebrows frown, though, was the sight of Destiny's black leather uniform and meticulously braided hair. That was how she was dressed when she came out of the stasis pod, and the attire she chose every time Young had to give an important speech to the crew. Something happened up there in the previous four days, something big. But what, exactly?

"Hey, Scott," Destiny greeted the younger soldier that came to welcome them.

"Hey. So, Dee…" he added in an hushed tone once Young was already on his way to the camp, "When are we leaving?"

"One week," was Destiny's answer. "Right on schedule. See? My countdowns are always accurate."

Scott sighed, the picture of unhappiness. Destiny squeezed his shoulder with a sympathetic smile. "Oh, come on. Show a little optimism! The universe is a big place full of surprises."

"Destiny, please, could you tone down the excitement, just a bit? God knows when we'll find another place like this."

"In a few months, if we're lucky," replied Destiny with a malicious smirk that made the young soldier frown.

"Ok, stop right there. What are you not telling me?"

In that moment, Colonel Young called for everybody to gather around him, and Destiny nudged the confused Lieutenant to move closer to their commanding officer, so for both to stand right behind him.

"As you all know," Young said, "Our time on this planet is coming to an end. I know how you all feel about it, and how much many of you want to stay and build a new home for us. But we arrived here because we kept moving forward, because we didn't abandon hope. The hope that one day, we will find a way to get back home, to our families and loved ones. And thanks to Freya, this hope might be on the verge to become a reality."

He was smiling, and his good mood raised more than a few eyebrows. Including Scott's, that eyed suspiciously Destiny's calm demeanor again.

"Is there anything you want to share?" he hissed. "As in _right now_?"

Destiny gave Scott another smirk, and told the young soldier to keep listening. The Colonel was now explaining to an astonished crew the existence of a planet named Helia, inhabited by Ancients that might help them go back home. Slowly, the doubt and the confusion left their places to smiles and unconcealed joy. Everyone started talking at once, asking questions about the planet, about how much time it would take to get there and if the Colonel had more info about the Ancients that lived there.

Everyone, but Rush. Destiny could feel him staring at her from a distance from the very moment Young started talking, hopefully trying to catch her reactions to his speech. Better her than Young, Destiny thought. Her so-called poker face was way better than his. Destiny was a reliable keeper of secrets, a skill she acquired across the years trying to hide Tamra's alcoholism, a more than a few illicit affairs, and especially everything concerning Karis and the Alliance. Young wasn't. The only way for this to end well was to keep their mouths shut and to get to Helia as soon as possible, before her commander crumbled under the weight of his burden.

Scott let out an irritated sigh, snapping Destiny out of her reverie. "Guess someone cannot take a hint."

Destiny shrugged."Don't worry about Rush. Go celebrate! There's a good chance now you're going to meet your child for real within this year or even less."

"We'll see… we'll see about that."

Destiny placed both hands on her hips, frowning at Scott's tentative answer. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know if it's a good idea, Dee," he explained. "He doesn't even know me… I'm just the 'good friend' that offered to support him and his mom."

"And that's more than most people would do. Take it from someone that knows… sometimes a leap of faith is just what you need. And now, would you please go hug that poor girl?" she then said, pointing at Chloe. She looked lovely in the turquoise shirt Doctor Brown had borrowed her, and ever more so when she met Scott's gaze and gave the young soldier a big, warm smile. Destiny eyed Scott and the smile on his face, and she jokingly pushed him forward.

"I won't say it twice, Lieutenant! Go! Shoo!"

"Yes, _Mother_," replied Scott rolling his eyes with fake annoyance. Destiny laughed, and watched the young couple hug and celebrate the good news. Every now and then though her eyes drifted from the happy couple and concentrated on Young for a few seconds, just to make sure he wasn't having second thoughts on their agreement.

When Destiny was sure everything was fine and no one was paying attention to her, she slightly winced in pain and rose an hand to her head. She tied her hair up in such an hurry she braided some streaks too tightly, and she could already feel a bad headache coming her way. Maybe she could avoid it if she managed to loosen the hairpins, but a few attempts later it was painfully clear to Destiny that she couldn't do it, not without causing a mess.

"Great, so damn great," she muttered under her breath. Then an hand came out of nowhere and removed hers from her head, adjusting the hair in her place until she felt comfortable again.

Destiny smiled, "Well, thanks for coming to my rescue," and she turned to look at her savior. Her smile froze on her face, though, when she met Rush's gaze.

"You're welcome," replied Rush, ignoring Destiny's sudden change. His lips curled up in an amused smile.

"What? Should I not have helped you?"

"I don't want your help."

"You might not _want_ it, but you _need_ it. And considering what Young just told the crew, you should reconsider your position."

Destiny shrugged, "I really don't see why."

"An Ancient outpost in the middle of nowhere. Am I the only one with a still working brain?"

"Are you asking my opinion?"

"I'm just not prone to dismiss certain details… unlike some people here."

"Such as?"

"No Ancient ever made it this far alive. Your sisters did. And the changes in your behavior since your awakening is proof that, as much as you want to deny it, you can't stand to be alone. Maybe the others reacted to solitude in a more _creative_ way, so to speak."

"And?"

"And now I think I'll go grab a drink and join the celebrations," said Rush smugly. "Excuse me."

Destiny clenched her fists, wishing Rush a painful death. Suddenly the impromptu party lost every attraction for her, and rather than spoil the party for everyone with her bad mood, Destiny decided to retreat in the shuttle and cool down. But the truth was she wasn't exactly angry at Rush. The fact he figured out in seconds what the others missed out was exactly what drew her to him in the first place, along with his sarcasm and his apparently innate understanding of the ship. In the darkness of the shuttle, for the first time, Destiny admitted to herself that she missed him. Eli was her best friend, that would never change. What she felt for Rush was different. He got under her skin like no one ever before. Whether or not that was a good thing, she had no clue. Yet.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Destiny smiled and turned the head to greet Young and the two glasses of alcohol he was bringing along with him.

"So, on Earth, you actually exchange small coins in order to hear what someone is thinking about, sir?"

"Not really. Maybe when we'll be back you can discuss this with Doctor Jackson. I'm sure he has a long and exhaustive explanation for this way of saying," said Young, placing the glass in Destiny's hands before sitting next to her.

"I'm sure he does."

"What are you doing here, Destiny?"

"Hiding. But I clearly did a poor job, you found me," answered Destiny, attempting to crack a joke.

"Good. And now the truth, if you don't mind."

Destiny sighed, her eyes fixed on the floor. "Rush figured out that Helia is not inhabited by proper Ancients. And he felt the urge to tell me, in his usual arrogant, annoying way."

"Do you think he's going to tell the others?"

"No. He just wanted me to know, I suppose."

"We could tell them."

"If you think they won't freak out at the thought of my sisters cloning their dead crews and starting a new civilization from scratch, Sir, then go ahead, I won't stop you. But I'm freaked out… and we're talking about _me_. And it's not like they're not going to find out, they will… once we'll get there."

"As they will about… you know what."

Destiny emptied her glass in one go. "You're having second thoughts. Bad move. We did what we thought was best for everyone. Like General O'Neill said to you that time, this is not a democracy. If we did wrong, Sir… well, we'll have to live with it."

"I'll drink to that," said Young, raising his glass. Destiny watched her empty glass with an half smile. She chuckled.

"I think I already did. Sir, I request permission to go back on the ship. I want everything to be ready for tomorrow, when we'll start stocking procedures for fresh food and water. Three days for gathering, three days for sorting and stocking everything on board. That should be enough."

"Permission granted, but you'll have some passengers I'm afraid. A couple civilians and some scientists. And Doctor Rush."

Destiny pressed her lips together and took a short intake of breath. "Fine. At what time do they want to leave?"

"Half an hour."

"Good, I'll be here. And if I may, what about you Sir? Am I to come pick you up later tonight?"

"I'll see you tomorrow morning at 0700," Young replied. Destiny nodded, and got up from the bench.

"Ok, then. I'll start the pre-flight."

Young nodded, and left the shuttle. Destiny waited until she was sure he was far enough to sneak her head outside and watch him interact with the others. Maybe her gut feeling was wrong and he just wanted to enjoy a little more fresh air and actual soil beneath his feet before a six month straight jump. Maybe that friendlier vibe she caught between Young and TJ was nothing and not an attempt from either parts to rekindle their affair. Destiny sighed, unhappy. Those were pretty big 'maybe', and she didn't feel the need to play referee in a sparring match between her commander and her chief medical officer because their relationship once again didn't work out. Her plate was already full as it already was.

When she brought back on the ship her little group of civilians and Rush, Destiny did her best to ignore him and concentrate only on the other passengers. A few of them were concerned about Freya's condition and nodded in approval when they learned she was back into a stasis pod.

"With a little luck, maybe, we can all find help where we're headed, and Freya as well," said Lisa Park, ever the optimistic.

Destiny couldn't help but suppress a groan. Another maybe. By the Ancestors, would they ever stop coming?

"There's a chance, but she's pretty sure there's no cure. Her nanites are destroying her tissues and internal organs. Stasis seems the only way to keep her in one piece. But hey, we can still hope for some scientific breakthrough. She's been asleep for quite a long time."

"Speaking of sleeping, are we going to need the stasis pods in the lower decks?" asked Brody. "We haven't checked them all yet, but a few are definitely damaged…"

"No need. At least there shouldn't be. It will take us a few months to get to Helia, not _years_."

"And one giant jump. Still, I'd like to get in one of those. I mean, if it's possible. I don't think I can handle it."

"Yeah, me neither," said Volker. "It's already bad with a normal jump, Dee… Six months might be too long for many people."

"I can't deny this jump will take a toll on everybody. But without my FTL engines or one of those ZPMs you told me about, this is the fastest way to get there."

"And what about you, Destiny?" said Rush, joining the conversation. "Are you excited to meet… sorry, what are your sisters' names again?"

"Leda, Sati and Iras. And of course, Aurora. And yes, I'm excited. As you all would be if you got to meet your long-lost relatives after decades of silence."

"Are they all like… well, like Freya?" asked Park.

"Not exactly. Sati is the oldest among us, and she has absolutely zero sense of humor. Leda is like her, but she cracks a joke every now and then. Iras and I share the same lineage, so we are pretty similar. And Aurora… Aurora is the youngest, the rebellious child. Her maturity issues are more than balanced by her engineering skills, though."

"Definitely. I've seen some of her projects in your database… She's a visionary genius. I can't wait to meet Aurora and have a chat with her," said Brody, making no effort to conceal the admiration in her voice.

"And she likes humans, so you might even have a chance," murmured Rush. Brody's face turned a violent shade of red.

"I-I wasn't suggesting… I'm only saying…"

"I know exactly what you were saying, Doctor Brody, and unlike someone else here, I don't analyze every single word looking for your God knows what kind of hidden meaning," answered Destiny, thus effectively ending the discussion. A few minutes later, the docking clamps were engaged and the shuttle connected to the ship's airlock. Destiny turned the engine off, and watched her passengers leave the ship all together, eager to remove themselves from that awkward situation. All of them, but one.

Destiny snorted, annoyed. "What now, Rush?"

"Her indiscretions with her captain are written all over her file, why are you so touchy about it?"

"Because what Aurora does or doesn't do in her free time is not my business, and I'm damn sure it's not yours either. Unless, of course, what irks you is something else… that my sister is an avatar thus not a real person."

"It was a poor choice of words. I didn't mean…"

"Didn't you?"

"_No_," he insisted. "I didn't. Would you stop trying to pick up a fight with me?"

"Not until I'm sure that was really a poor choice of words, Doctor. You see, they might not like this attitude where we're headed."

"Oh, I'm sure you would enjoy seeing me at their mercy."

"A girl can dream. But consider yourself lucky Karis never made their party."

"I read about her too. A vindictive girl."

"I wouldn't say that."

Rush snorted. "She tried to slit her commander's throat in his sleep."

"After he abused her. He had it coming."

"Then she fomented a rebellion against him. _Twice_."

"Oh, yes, I remember that part, said Destiny, smiling fondly at the memory. "So well played! Safir had to leave the fleet in disgrace and with many broken bones after she was done with him. Of course, then I had to deal with that guy…"

Rush frowned, "Safir? I've already heard that name."

"Of course you have," replied Destiny matter-of-factly. "He's the civilian that organized the mutiny against me, Eris and Janek."

"One of the mutineers you marooned."

"I'm confident he learned his lesson before he died. And now please, Doctor… Don't let me keep you."

Taking the hint, Rush left the shuttle and went straight for his quarters to retrieve his notebooks. As much as he - deep down - enjoyed the change of scenery, he enjoyed the ship more than green hills, waterfalls and clear, blue skies, and now that the crew was on the way back to the ship they could finally resume their researches, something that was put on hold thanks to that unexpected rest stop, much to his displeasure.

He was going to leave his room when something caught his eye. He didn't love technologic accessories the way the crew did, he found easier and simpler to write everything down on paper rather than on a tablet or a computer, but the other scientists just loved the new toys Destiny retrieved from one of the ship's seemingly endless storage units and in the end he just had to take one as well. They where all connected, much to his annoyance, and before his accident he felt Eli and Riley talk about trying to exploit the domestic network to put online their own version of Facebook. That was why he welcomed the beeping sound with an irritated sigh. Someone among the _twenty_ people now on board just felt the _need_ to send him a private message. He considered ignoring it, but in the end he sighed again and opened the link. He immediately frowned at the message that appeared on his screen a second later.

COME FIND ME, WE NEED TO TALK - FREYA

Right below, there were five strings of numbers. He recognized the third as the master code Destiny had given him, so he assumed the others were Colonel Young's, Wray's, Destiny's and TJ's. The five codes necessary to operate the chair. Rush couldn't help a smirk. He had to give Freya credit…the girl was smart. And apparently she wanted to get back at her sister for some reason. He didn't miss the angry look she threw at Destiny just before their fight stopped. Something happened to make Freya angry, something Destiny did or didn't do… Well, he couldn't wait to find out, Rush said to himself grabbing the tablet and leaving his quarters for the Chair room.

Luckily for him, everyone was in the Mass Hall to envision the video footage Destiny had brought back from the planet, and no one saw him entering the lab, or blocking the door behind him to prevent unpleasant surprises from Eli or other members of the crew. He sighed in anticipation, watching the Chair with a mixture of excitement and longing. Apart from Destiny and Young, and his brief, unauthorized stint with the Chair during Destiny's oath, no one ever sat there. Destiny offered the chance to experience the virtual reality in the matrix, but no one ever dared to try it. If they wanted an out-of-this-world experience, the communication stones were a safer alternative and offered pretty much the same result. And Young, Rush was sure of it, was just waiting for him to try and hack the codes protecting the Chair's systems to do whatever nefarious project he had in mind to gain control of the ship again. Rush chuckled at the thought and wondered if the Colonel also pictured him in his head actually doing that, all the while twitching a pair of villain moustache. Rush would've been more than happy to indulge the Colonel's paranoia in his spare time, if only he had some to begin with.

The Chair came immediately to life after he hit the last key. Rush couldn't help but smile. He slowly approached the Chair, savoring the moment, and after a deep breath he sat on it. Instantly the restraints blocked his wrists and ankles, and the neural interface connected with his temples. Rush closed his eyes, expecting pain, but nothing happened. When he reopened his eyes, he was standing in the Gate Room in the virtual Atlantis.

"The Chair might be a trauma the first time, but the software always keeps track of the people using it… this helps with the following sessions," said Freya, sitting on the steps right in front of him. "Is it weird that there's your digital imprint but no record of you ever using the Chair?"

"It's a long story."

Freya smiled, and got back to her feet, "Oh, I bet it is. Welcome, Doctor Rush. And sorry for the subterfuge, but Destiny is Destiny, I'm afraid. She can be stubborn."

"Why am I here, Freya?"

Freya nodded briefly, "Straight to the point then. Destiny refused to help me doing something that could bring many benefits to you, and especially to her. You're my contingency plan."

Rush raised an eyebrow, "Somehow I don't see Destiny actually doing something that inconsiderate."

"That's because I know her better than you. Destiny loves taking risks… but only on the battlefield. When it comes to other matters sometimes she's too cautious. To the point of raging paranoia."

"Her behavior concerning the plasma cannon on the front of the ship comes to mind," said Rush. "We're forbidden to even get near its control interface."

Freya smirked and nodded in approval, "I knew you would understand. Yes, and that's part of the problem. The energy required to make that weapon work is unimaginable, and obtainable only through a set of equations known in my time as Project Arcturus."

"We're familiar with that project as well. We found an outpost in the Pegasus Galaxy dedicated to research that form of energy. It suffice to say it didn't end up well, for the Ancients involved at the time, and for us, when we tried to make it work."

"And that's enough reason not to try again? Because if I got the facts right, you spent two years trying to figure out how to dial Destiny's address. With that equation solved, you wouldn't have to search the galaxy for a planet with a natural Naquadria core. Actually, with that equation solved, you could _all_ go home. Isn't that what everybody's praying for?"

"Not everybody," said Rush. It was barely a whisper, but Freya heard it anyway.

"Good," she replied. "Then stay, and let the others go home. I'm sure my people on Helia will welcome you with open arms, as they will Destiny."

"There's just one little problem, Freya. We ran an extensive search in the database for all the already-known Ancient scientific projects, and Project Arcturus isn't among the ones we found."

"Because Destiny wanted nothing to do with that equation after the Battle of Venis. Which she won, by the way, thanks to that very equation. But I have a different view on the matter, so I made sure to upload a more updated version in the mainframe. Ah, not that you'll find it there, of course," she added in the end, almost as an afterthought.

"And why so?"

"You're a genius, find out. Anyway, before Destiny severed my connection to the mainframe, I also uploaded a copy among your personal files, along with that message for you. Just to be sure. Give it a look, figure it out. Do this, and everybody will get what they want."

"And what's in it for you? Because, see, I don't believe you're doing this out of compassion for us."

"I'm not. As long as you'll be here, Destiny will feel obliged to look after you. I think she's earned the right to decide how to live her life by now, don't you think? She deserves to be free and finally live in peace with what's left of her family."

"I can understand the need for secrecy now. Destiny would've never accepted your plan."

"She said she would think about it, but I know her enough to realize when she needs a nudge in the right direction."

"That's a matter of opinion, but I don't think I'll ever be able to take the moral high ground in a discussion around here. Fine, I'll help you. I'll solve the equation."

"That's really good news, Doctor."

"I'm not doing it for you."

"Nevertheless… thank you. You won't regret it."

Rush looked away, slightly uncomfortable. "Yeah. Well, we'll see about that."

Freya tilted her head and observed Rush with a malicious smirk, like she knew something he still ignored. "Then we're done here, Doctor. We won't meet again. And the message with the master codes is self-deleting itself as we speak."

"I thought you trusted me."

Freya snorted, clearly amused by his words, "Not that much."

_And the feeling is mutual_, Rush would've loved to say, but the connection ended a few seconds later and he woke up again in the Chair room. As Freya said, he found a copy of the equation in his personal files and no trace of the message with the five master codes. He located in a inhabited section the perfect place to work on the proof undisturbed, and once he wrote the equation on the walls in chalk he erased the file. If he had to keep his work a secret from Destiny, keeping everything on paper would help maintain the secret a little longer.

For a second, he considered wiping his writing with his hand and forget his meeting with Freya ever happened. Maybe the last time he didn't mean to betray Destiny's trust, but this time there was no way he could've denied it, had she accused him of something. He was perfectly aware of his actions and Destiny's opinion on the matter, and he was choosing to act that way on his free will. But on the other hand, the equation was there, taunting him, tempting him. If Freya's quickness to analyze and understand his character – and his ambition – was any indication, she truly must have been a force to be reckoned with during diplomatic negotiations. One look and she already knew he wouldn't be able to resist trying to solve what the best Ancient scientists and his colleagues in the Pegasus galaxy couldn't.

He sighed. Well, he thought, raising the chalk to start writing, Destiny already hated him… one reason more wouldn't make any difference.

The guilt he was feeling was _completely_ out of place.

* * *

_When the last crate of food is safely stored aboard and all her crew is present and accounted for, Destiny allows herself to relax on the observation deck with a cup of Brody's finest. The sight of her storage units filled to the roof with fresh food, meat and gallons of water is beautiful, for lack of better words, and she knows she's not the only one to think that. It's also a pleasant thought to hold on to, something the six-month jump clearly isn't. As predicted, a few scientists and some civilians asked to be placed in stasis for the entire duration of their journey. Brody and Volker asked to be among them, but both Young and Rush refused their request, in light of their importance for the crew and the ship. After a little mediation from Destiny, though, they agree to let them go into the stasis pod after the first half of the jump. Along with Wray and TJ, they put together a list of the crewmembers more likely to need that kind of solution or in need of more psychological support to endure the stress._

_After a couple of months, half of the people in the list are in stasis and Destiny has no doubt TJ and Young are sleeping together. She keeps a close eye on her commander and medical officer, but apparently, this time things are going well between them. Young is more relaxed and TJ looks happy, but the doctor is spending more time with Chloe and Wray and tries to avoid her company every chance she gets. This just prompts Destiny to keep a closer eye on her – Kinos included – and it doesn't take long to figure out TJ's secret. Destiny doesn't know whether to be happy or angry at those two for being so stupid. She rants for a while, listing to TJ all the reasons why having a baby right now isn't a good idea. The ship wasn't exactly a place for children back in her days, and it certainly isn't now, for example. They're in the middle of an hyperspace jump, so no sunlight or fresh air for months and that isn't certainly ideal either for TJ or her unborn child. The mess that's Young's family situation on Earth. What this could mean for TJ and Young's careers if they really will make it back to Earth. She ends her tirade with the thing that irks her the most, that TJ never thought of telling her. She's the freaking XO, Destiny reminds her. It's her job to take care of the crew. Now, the best solution for TJ and the baby - since TJ told her she wants to keep it - would be a stasis pod, but even with Destiny offering to take over the infirmary for the rest of the jump this is not a viable solution. She's risking another exhaustion fever with her current tasks, TJ points out, she doesn't need one more. But she does accepts to slow down and let Destiny take over a few of her tasks, with the promise to spend as much time as she can in the greenhouse, enjoying the better air and the artificial sunlight._

_It's only after her meeting with TJ is over and the medic has left that she notices Rush's presence. He doesn't seem to have noticed hers, though, and Destiny frowns a little wondering what he's doing there. That's a unutilized living sector with no structural problems that could require Rush's presence, but he moves around like it's not his first time there, and that's more than enough to make Destiny suspicious. Lurking from the shadows, she watches him access a corridor and then close the bulkhead behind him. Everything happens in less than a few seconds, but Destiny doesn't miss the chalk writings all over the place. On any other day she would've dismissed it as Rush being his usual asocial self, but her instincts tell her something's off and she's always relied on her gut feelings. Eli is living proof of this. This the only reason why Destiny waits a couple minutes, and then she overrides the block Rush put on the bulkhead. _

_For a seconds Destiny hopes that for once her gut feeling is wrong._

_Then she takes a closer look at the writings, and she knows it isn't._

* * *

Destiny's eyes couldn't stop travelling from one wall to the other, watching Rush's work written in chalk from the ceiling down to the floor. It took her less than a second to recognize the equation, and even less to throw herself at Rush in a fit of rage. She took him by the neck of his shirt and violently shoved him against one of the walls. Rush hit his head hard against the cold metal surface, but somehow he knew that the pain he was experiencing in that moment was nothing compared to what Destiny was probably planning to do to him now that his secret was out.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Destiny's face was so close he could feel her breath on his skin; her eyes were dark with rage. That was the Destiny that had fought and won all those battles in the Old Era, the reckless soldier eager to fight and not afraid to do what needed to be done. With a shiver, Rush wondered for a second if she was going to kill him. Right now, she looked like she could kill him in cold blood, and little Rush knew about how many times Destiny had actually done that to protect herself or the people she cared about. Luckily for him, that person was gone, buried under layers of shame and guilt. Destiny promised herself when she left her home galaxy that she would never resume her old habits and she was a woman of her word, even if in that instant she would've asked nothing more than to beat that arrogant bastard to death for possibly endangering the crew and the ship like they meant nothing to him. Again.

"Where did you find this equation? Answer me!"

"Freya gave it to me. It was hidden in my files."

"And you just had to solve it, didn't you? You. Just. Had. To. Do it!" shouted Destiny. For a second, she looked ready to punch him in the face, but instead she released him from her grasp and took a few steps backwards.

"It's a modified version of Project Arcturus, a research about a new form of energy…"

"I know everything about Project Arcturus, it was considered a huge waste of time back in my time as well. A dangerous, _lethal_ waste of time. I won't allow this to continue!"

"You won't _allow_ it?" he repeated, mocking her. "I don't take orders from you."

"But you take them from Young. The result doesn't change, we think the same on this matter."

Rush frowned, and Destiny immediately realized her mistake. "How can Young know about the equation? There's no trace of it in the database…unless…"

It took him just a look to get confirmation of his suspects from Destiny. The woman was looking at his straight in the eyes, silently daring him to voice his thoughts.

"…Unless someone erased everything the moment Freya planted it in the mainframe. You did it with Young's blessing. What a surprise. Do you do anything these days without asking for his approval first?"

"Careful with words, Rush," Destiny warned him. "This conversation might become highly unpleasant for you in no time."

"More than it already is?" he retorted, moving closer to Destiny. "What an hypocrite. You prides yourself to put the crew's interests above all, but apparently, only when it suits your needs."

"Takes one to know one, Rush."

"I'm not going to give up my work, Destiny. But maybe, we can find an agreement."

"A what? Have you listened to a word I just said?"

"I keep this for myself," he added, ignoring Destiny's protests. "Just like I'm doing right now. No one will ever see the data, no one will help me. I'll work here, alone, on my spare time, under your supervision. And nothing of this will ever go into the mainframe."

Destiny chuckled. "Yeah, right. Well, I don't believe you."

"You're underestimating how much I want to solve this. I couldn't crack the math proof that led us here, Destiny. But I will crack this one, I swear to God I _will_."

"So, if I understand this correctly, this is not about helping the crew or finding a way to create endless energy. It's just you and your damn ego."

"Please, Destiny. Let me do this."

Destiny remained silent for a while, her eyes moving from Rush, to the written walls, and then again to Rush. Stripped of all its physical applications, what was left of Project Arcturus but a very complex math puzzle with no solution? She could implement security around that sector of the ship, remove all the possible access to the ship's computers, have a few Kinos to keep track of what was going on inside the compartment when she wasn't around. It was doable.

"Hear me, Doctor, I'm going to say it just once. This place is out of limit for everyone else. We'll be the only ones to come here. You'll do your… game, puzzle, whatever it is, but the moment I say it's over, it's over, and you'll find more productive ways to use your free time. Understood?"

"Perfectly."

"Good. Then I suggest you to call it a day and go back to your quarters. I don't want to find you here when I'm back from the suspended animation section. You can resume your… puzzle tomorrow."

If Rush was annoyed by Destiny's dismissive tone, he didn't give it away. He smiled and bowed his head, "I will."

"You better," said Destiny, hitting the door mechanism on the wall with her fist and walking out of the compartment without stopping or looking back.

* * *

_Four months gone, two to go. Brody, Volker and half of the crew are in stasis, TJ is showing and from what Destiny can tell Young took the news of his imminent fatherhood very well. So well actually, that he finally gave his wife back on Earth what she wanted – a divorce – and made his relationship with the ship's doctor public, along with the news of TJ's pregnancy. It was against the rules, but as he said to his superiors on Earth and to Destiny once he's back aboard, he's going to retire anyway and TJ still has every intention to leave the Air Force for med school once they'll make it back home. It's just a question of regularizing our positions with the Air Force once we're back, he says. And then Young smiles, for once happy and at peace with himself, and Destiny can't help but feeling happy for him as well. She had her doubts, but they proved her wrong, so good for them._

_For her own peace of mind as well, Destiny has also decided against stomping into the Chair room and have a nice little chat with her beloved older sister. When she will, it'll happen in the real world and Aurora will be present, so to save Destiny the trouble to repeat her tirade twice. She should've known better, she's good at planning battle strategies but Freya was a diplomatic, and she's used to an entirely different type of war. She just knows what buttons to push to get people do what she wants, and apparently that skill of hers just got better with time. _

_Since she can't take her resentment out on Freya, Destiny settles for making Rush's life a living hell when Young is not around, and especially when they're alone in the abandoned quarters. But he doesn't seem affected by anything she does. It's like the numbers on those walls are his only reason to live, occasionally eat and rarely sleep, and soon the rage leaves place to worry. The mad scientist needs more rules than the ones already in use, and she's more than happy to oblige. She keeps an eye on him during his meals, makes sure he actually rests in his quarters, and silently rearranges the work among the surviving scientists in order to let him deal with his obsession. The more, the better, in her opinion. He will realize he's wasting his precious time and he'll let go. But he doesn't. So one night, Destiny declares her defeat, and grabs a piece of chalk with a resigned sigh. She doesn't miss Rush's half-grin, and for a second she wonders if he didn't play her again. Another part of her brain, though, seems convinced he's just happy she's alone with him again. _

_Whatever _that_ implies, is not something Destiny is ready to process yet._

* * *

Destiny let out a long suffering sigh. "Enough, let it go."

"Let me finish, I'm close."

"To what? Mental breakdown, physical exhaustion, neither of them, both of them? I said," she continued, taking the chalk from his hand, "let it go."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I'm serious. How long do you think you can keep this up?"

"As long as it takes."

"Oh really? People are starting to notice. You're reverting to your old self. Insufferable, annoying, rude... for the love of your God, take a break. Play chess with Colonel Young…"

"Not a worthy opponent."

"With Eli, then. Go to the greenhouse. Punch a bag in the gym. _Do something else_, I beg of you."

"Drink."

"Sorry?"

"I'll have a drink. With you. In here. That's what I'll do to unwind. But I don't think Brody managed to brew whisky or scotch in here, didn't he?"

"Not yet, but I have a viable alternative," replied Destiny with a wicked grin. She left the corridor, and a few minutes later she came back with two small bottles and two metal cups.

"Brody one day or another will realize moonshine is boring and start looking at Tamra's cookbook. In the meanwhile, I'm using it," she explained, holding them up to inspection. Rush took one, uncorked it and sniffed the content. He frowned and did it again, not trusting his first impression.

"This smells like… but come on, it's impossible."

"What's impossible? To actually brew some decent apple cider on a spaceship? I should remind you that this ship had a reputation to defend back in the day, and brewing alcohol was an alternative to see our precious drug supply depleted ahead of time, if you get what I'm saying."

"I'm just curious to see how you do it."

"A magician never reveals its secrets."

"Fair enough. What's in the other bottle?"

"Something a little stronger."

"How much stronger?"

Destiny grinned, "You'll see. You're going to try it, aren't you? See, Tamra is not dead, she ascended. And she takes great offense when someone doesn't taste her 'creations'."

"Oh well, who am I to anger an ascended being," he commented, taking the bottle Destiny offered him and pouring himself a cup of the clear liquor. After he was done, Destiny did the same.

"Bottoms up," she said. She clang her cup against his and drank half of its content in one swift move. Rush tried to do the same, but he spitted the moonshine right out, coughing violently.

"Dear Lord, what was that?" he muttered, his mouth still burning. As an answer, Destiny threw her head back and started to laugh.

"Stop it, it's not funny. Bloody hell… and I thought Brody's moonshine was bad," he said, passing an hand through his hair. Still laughing, Destiny took his drink and drank a little moonshine before giving the cup back to him.

"Aw. Such a lightweight, you are."

Rush gave Destiny a dirty look. "Well, I didn't have millennia at my disposal to master the art."

"To be honest, I started drinking only because if it was gone, then Tamra wouldn't have nothing to drink. But she was the ship's resident distiller, so…"

"Your friend was an alcoholic."

"There's no point in denying it. But to her defense, before she became the ship's doctor she was involved in some pretty crazy stuff."

"Of what kind?"

"The kind that messes you up in the head. Secret operations, classified missions. Keep in mind that soldiers back then were supposed to do their job and keep going. We weren't supposed to break or develop that thing TJ is so worried about, PTSD. Things had to be done, end of story. I don't even think the Council ever considered the possibility of their soldiers failing in something."

"Including you and your sisters?"

"Especially us. They could break from time to time, in private, but we didn't have that luxury. We had to be strong for them. And when we couldn't do that anymore…"

"… you were sentenced to meet a sun or leave."

"That was their solution."

"No, it was them sticking their heads in the sand and refusing to see the truth."

"Ok, then a non-solution to a problem that according to them couldn't be solved. Happy now?"

"Very much, thank you," said Rush with an amused chuckle. Then his expression changed from relaxed to serious, and he sprinted to the wall where the last dead-end results were scribbled.

"What is it?" said Destiny, confused. "Nicholas? What's wrong?"

Destiny called him again, but Rush didn't seem to have heard her. He had his piece of chalk back in his hand and he was busy writing another set of equations, erasing some of the previous calculation to make space for new ones. For twenty minutes nothing in the world existed, nothing mattered more. The solution was there, in front of them, it had been since the very beginning… how could he not have seen it?

"You were right," he said, stopping writing all of sudden. When he turned to look at her, Destiny couldn't believe her eyes. Yes, she had seen him smile, even showing some degree of happiness from time to time. But all the emotions conveyed in her face in that moment, his smile… Rush looked ecstatic. He took her face in his hands, and smiled some more.

"You were right," he repeated.

Then he leaned down on her face and kissed her.

"A non-solution," said Rush, grinning. "This equation has no solution, too many variables… that's why at some point the energy discharged becomes uncontrollable. You need to make all the calculations _again_ with the new set of variables obtained by the experiment, and so on every time the parameters change! It's the only way to keep it stable! Come, see for yourself," he then added, taking Destiny to see the new calculations. He then started to talk again, but Destiny had no idea of what was he talking about. She was too shocked and confused by what had just happened to pay attention to what Rush was saying now. Did Rush just kissed her? Was the equation really solved? Why was Rush squeezing her hand to the point of breaking the bones? And come to think of it, why was he holding her hand in the first place? Was the euphoria for solving his puzzle acting in his place?

"I don't understand."

"Well, these calculations…"

"Screw this equation! I mean, what happened _before _you started talking a mile per hour!"

"Oh. Right. I… I apologize, Destiny. I don't know what's gotten into me. Please, forget it's ever happened," he said, before resuming his work. Destiny, completely taken aback by his change of behavior, stared at his back for a few seconds, trying to decide her next move.

Oh, to hell with it.

"What if I don't want to?" she whispered. Rush froze; he clutched the chalk so hard he broke the little piece in two.

"What if I actually want to remember… this time?"

For a second Rush widened his eyes in shock. He felt relieved that Destiny couldn't see his face.

"So you remember what happened."

"I wasn't sure about who dragged me into my quarters. Eli told me he didn't do it, but at the time no one else would've helped me. I guess I was wrong."

Rush slowly turned to look Destiny in the eyes. "Dee, I… This…"

"I guess I could've realized it a bit sooner myself. I never held a grudge for so long. Or tried so hard to pick up a fight with someone. Not even with my first Deck Chief, and seriously, I hated him! Well, I suppose I'm really twelve years old, as Colonel Young suggested a few times in the past…"

Rush acted so quickly Destiny had barely time to register his hands on her face and his mouth on hers again. But she had more than enough time to register the long, slow kiss that came immediately after.

"This is wrong," whispered Destiny against his lips, after she managed to break the kiss. Rush chuckled and touched her forehead with his.

"I know," he whispered. "Let's do it anyway."

"And people will talk."

"Only if we get caught and admit it, we're too smart to let that happen."

"Young won't be happy."

"Young got Lieutenant Johansen pregnant after a one-night stand. No chance for him to take the moral high ground this time."

"What if you'll betray my trust again?"

"Would I be that stupid?"

"I don't know, you tell me. But I hope the answer is no, because the next time I might actually kill you."

A loud knock at the bulkhead destroyed the atmosphere. Rush and Destiny let each other go immediately, both watching the door. They exchanged a look.

"Have you told someone about this place?" hissed Destiny.

"No one, I don't understand…"

"Dee!" said Eli's voice from the other side of the bulkhead. "Come on, I know you're here, I've seen you come inside. Cabin fever struck again, we need help with the stasis pods!"

"So this time it's actually _your_ fault," smirked Rush. Destiny elbowed him.

"I've heard you, Eli. I'm coming. Meet me there?"

"Fine. What's wrong with the door? I can't open it!"

"Just a glitch, I'll fix it later."

"Good, so… see you there!"

Destiny listened to the sound of Eli's footsteps getting weaker, but she didn't relax until she was sure he was gone. Then the tension on her face left place to a relieved smile.

"Well, so much for being too smart to get caught," said Destiny. When she turned her head to look at Rush, though, she saw him laughing softly.

"This is not funny."

"Oh, it is. Come on, go help Eli. I'll be on the bridge if you need me."

"I won't. But I might need you in the afternoon, Eli is busy and I have no one to play chess with."

"I now happen to have a lot of free time."

"Well, then, Doctor… I'll see you on the observation deck."

* * *

"Aaand here we go," said Eli, pushing a button. A second later, Katie Brown's pod came to life, freezing the scientist, and after a quick check the young genius declared everything was perfectly fine.

"You've done this a million times by now, you didn't need me to hold your hand, Eli," commented Destiny from the opposite wall.

"Well, you haven't frozen Brody by mistake…" he muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing! You look different today," said Eli, immediately changing subject. "Strangely happy. What happened?"

"Nothing, purely in the mood."

"You haven't found a way to kill Rush and get away with it, have you?"

Destiny suppressed a laugh. "if that were the case, would I tell you?"

"Only if you needed help with tossing the body out of an airlock."

"Relax, Eli, nothing will happen. In fact… Doctor Rush and I just found an agreement. We're going to try and mend our friendship."

Eli suddenly stopped. With a frown, he started looking around him and checking the walls.

"Weird," he eventually said.

"What's weird, Eli?"

"You said you and Rush are going to be friends again. I was just checking the universe wasn't imploding or something."

Destiny playfully pushed him, and Eli returned the gesture, laughing.

"Enough mocking me, go make yourself useful."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, improvising a military salute. Destiny rolled her eyes and started walking in the opposite direction. Eli watched her for a few seconds before calling her again.

"Dee?"

"Yes, Eli?"

"Everything's going to be alright," he said with a smile and a nod, before leaving. Destiny watched him go with a little smile on her lips. There was no need for further explanations, Destiny already knew what her friend meant, or who he was referring to.

"Yes, Eli," she whispered to herself. "It's going to be alright."


	15. Reunion

Hey there, look what the cat dragged in! I'm sorry it took me so long, but I promise, I'll try and do better with the next chapter. This one is still unbetaed because I truly wanted to post something before leaving for the seaside tomorrow, I'll change it as soon as my beta gives me the revised version back. Enjoy!

* * *

The numbers on countdown clock were still racing backwards.

That damn thing had been racing backwards for five months, three weeks, six days and – Eli checked on his watch – twenty-one hours, and much like all the few crewmembers that resisted the temptation of stasis, he just wished that countdown to end already. Everyone during the last months had stepped in the Gate Room at least once or twice a day to watch the clock spinning, but much like Eli, their main interest was to make sure time was still flowing correctly and they weren't stuck in some kind of time-dilation field. Those six months were starting to feel more and more like years.

"If these Helians don't end up being awesome, I'll be greatly disappointed," he said, threatening the clock with his finger. "I mean it."

"Threatening the clock again, Eli?" said Destiny, standing by the entrance. "It's only six in the morning. It's a little early for that, don't you think?"

"Right… or so this other clock says," and Eli raised his wrist. "But I don't trust time-measuring devices that much, right now."

"That clock is perfect, and so is the countdown. Three hours to go before we enter the star system, jump out of hyperspace included," grinned Destiny, staring at the clock above their heads. "I can't wait."

Eli frowned, "I thought we were jumping out of hyperspace right next to Helia."

"And we will. But I want to make sure everything's ok before approaching the planet," explained Destiny. "Freya left Helia long time ago, Eli, things could've changed in her absence."

"If your sisters are anything like you, I hardly doubt it."

Destiny slowly turned her head, and raised an eyebrow. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"That you are awesome, of course."

"Nice save."

"And may I also add way happier than usual?"

Destiny rolled her eyes. "_Again_? Eli, I already told you. _Nothing_ has changed."

"Something _has_ changed," insisted the young man. "You just don't want to tell me what it is!"

"Because I've nothing to say!"

"So you're telling me that this cheerful vibe I'm getting from you it's only because you and Rush are back having your philosophical discussions three times a day?"

"What can I say? I love fighting with him."

Eli shot her a suspicious look, but he stopped talking when he realized he would get nothing useful out of Destiny. When it came to Rush and the time she spent with him, her lips were sealed. This only encouraged Eli to pay more attention, with the result of prompting Destiny and Rush to be even more cautious with their secret rendezvous. Not that there was something worth hiding, anyway. Destiny and Rush enjoyed spending their time together, to the point of sharing a bed sometimes, but usually they were so exhausted that sleeping was the only thing they could do. And when they weren't, Eli, Colonel Young and the rest of the crew always seemed to need them badly when they were on the verge of finally taking their relationship to the next level.

Oh well. They were only a few hours away from Helia, Destiny reminded herself with a grin. They will certainly not need them in the middle of the night like it usually happened aboard the ship.

"You have that face again," Eli sang-song with a coy smile. Destiny raised her eyes to the ceiling, sighting in exasperation.

"Oh for your God's sake. Why don't you go and submit you theories to Rush, Eli? I'd kill to hear his opinion on the subject."

"Nah," he shrugged. "it's more fun teasing you."

"What theory do you want to discuss with me, if I may ask, Mr. Wallace?" said Rush, appeared out of nowhere behind Eli's back. Immediately, Eli's smile faded; he gulped nervously.

"Uhm… Theory. Yes, that theory. I-I might need to work a little more on that, it's not ready to be discussed yet…"

"Why not? I happen to have nothing to do but nurse my insomnia right now. Destiny offered to play chess with me, but I'm sure she won't mind playing later… right, Destiny?"

Eli looked at Destiny with pleading eyes, almost imperceptibly shaking his head. Destiny bit her lip and secretly exchanged an amused look with Rush, who was standing behind Eli.

"I don't mind at all, Doctor. I'm sure that theory of Eli's is worth to be heard even at this early stage."

Eli's eyes widened in panic. Destiny's smirk and raised eyebrow silently told him that was only his fault.

"Well then. Eli, come," said Rush. Eli, with the look of a man sentenced to death, slowly dragged his feet behind Rush and followed him. Rush turned his head slightly to show Destiny he was fighting not to laugh, and Destiny mouthed 'be nice' to him in return before he went out of the room.

Destiny waited a few minutes until she was sure no one was within earshot, then she looked at the clock and sighed.

"In name of everything's that sacred, hurry up, you damn thing."

"I couldn't agree more," said Colonel Young, for once not in his uniform, with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"If there's a God, please kill me now," moaned Destiny with her face hidden behind her hands. "That's so embarrassing!"

"Because you can't take it anymore? It just proves you're human."

Destiny took a deep breath and showed her face to her commanding officer. "Thanks. Isn't a little early for coffee, Sir?"

"Since I can't sleep, at least let me do something useful. What's your excuse?"

"I'm fine sleeping a couple hours per night."

"Yes, if you want to get a fever again."

"Ok, then I'll rest when you'll do the same. How about that, Sir?"

"Let's go to the bridge and see if someone wants to be relieved from their duties earlier."

"Ok," conceded Destiny. following the Colonel in the corridor. "How's TJ?"

"Asleep, thank God. She should've gone into stasis; this is taking a toll on her and the baby."

"I offered, she refused. You could've made it an order, but I take you prefer the bed to the couch, am I right?"

"I'm not discussing my private matters with you."

"So it's a yes?"

"Were you this annoying with your previous captain?"

"Depends on who you ask. Sir."

"Oh. So it's a yes?"

Destiny chuckled, and looked at Young with an amused look in her eyes. "Maybe."

They reached the bridge a few minutes later, and as expected the two surviving scientists were nothing but glad to leave their place to get a few hours more of sleep. Destiny just hoped they would not run into Rush.

"Doctor Rush has peculiar ideas when it comes to the duration of a normal work shift."

"'Normal' and 'Rush' shouldn't be used in the same sentence," mumbled Young, sitting in the captain chair. Destiny chuckled and sat in one of the free chairs. They spent the rest of the shift checking the route and talking about Earth culture, a topic Destiny kept finding highly fascinating, but when Scott and the other soldiers arrived on the bridge, a few minutes after the ship jumped out of hyperspace, Young ordered Destiny to go have some breakfast and not to show her face there until they reached Helia.

"I can't have you running on low batteries, not today of all days. So get some rest, and we'll see each other later. No one will disturb you until we get to the planet."

Destiny raised an eyebrow at the low batteries comment, but she eventually agreed with her captain. And her growling stomach agreed with her, causing Destiny to turn and leave the bridge before the embarrassment could kill her.

"Well, Sir," said Scott, sitting at Destiny's place. "Today's the day."

"Yeah," replied Young.

"You don't seem particularly happy about it, if I may say."

"It might sound ridiculous, but jumping in an unknown situation it's not my idea of good day."

Scott chuckled. "Better an unknown situation than a life-and-death one, though."

And suddenly, the hologram of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl in her mid-twenties, with braided hair and a black leather uniform, appeared in the middle of the bridge.

"State your identity and intentions, or I'll open fire", said the girl. "Consider this a warning."

"You just had to say that, didn't you?" said Young with a sigh. Scott frowned and rose from his chair to get close to the hologram, exchanging a confused look with his superior.

"There's no ship in sight," he said. "How in the hell…?"

"Get Destiny back here, Scott. Immediately."

Scott reached for the radio and called Destiny, but no one answered. "Dammit, she already switched her radio off. Colonel… Is she," and he pointed at the angry blonde girl next to him, "who I think she is?"

"Only one way to find out. And please hurry, before she decides to blow up the ship."

Luckily for Scott, Destiny was still in the mess, just about to have breakfast with Vanessa and Chloe. The girls were still laughing at a joke Chloe had just told them, and they didn't seem to have noticed his presence.

"Sorry to interrupt, girls, but we need Destiny on the bridge. It's urgent."

"Well, so much for rest and regain your strength. What is it, Lieutenant?"

"Come and see for yourself," was the soldier's cryptic answer. Destiny frowned, but she rose from her seat and followed Scott on the bridge.

"Come on, we're alone now. What's the problem? Scott? Answer me!"

"Just take a deep breath and stay calm. Please."

"Why do I need to stay calm? What happened? I left the bridge for just a few seconds! Scott," she then added in an icy tone, "_What have you done to my ship?_"

"We did nothing, but she will. So please, talk her out of this."

"She? What are you talking ab…?" Destiny started to say, but the words died in her throat when she saw the holographic image in the middle of the bridge. Destiny froze, unable to talk or divert her eyes from the blond girl in front of her.

"Aurora," she whispered after a few minutes. "That's my sister Aurora. We found her."

"That's what we thought," said Young. "She's asking us to identify ourselves… but I think it would be better if you did the talking, this time. She's losing her patience."

"Look at her," said Destiny, smiling proudly. "My bratty little sister all grown up…"

"And that's beautiful news, Destiny," replied Young, "but she's threatening to kill us all, so if you don't mind…"

Destiny nodded, "Of course." She reached the command chair, just a few feet away from Aurora's image, and touched the interface, opening a holographic communication link with her sister's ship a few seconds after Aurora had repeated her threat.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, sister. I'm still carrying a few Novas, and you know how much I love to use them."

Everybody's eyes were set on Aurora, now sporting the same shocked expression Destiny had on her face when she entered the bridge. The blonde girl smiled, then took a deep breath and regained her composure.

"Well. Look who's finally here. Did you lose a couple milestones along the way?"

"Well, I took a couple detours. Watched a few stars go supernova. Wasted time looking everywhere for my missing little sister. Thinks like that."

"Yeah… sorry about that."

"You could've waited for me!" shouted Destiny. "I raced through the galaxy to get to Kila in time!"

"I wanted to! But I had my reasons… Alaric would've…We needed to act before Haldran…"

"Freya told me, you did well," said Destiny, interrupting her sister before she said too much. "She's on board, by the way."

"Really? How is she? Can I see her? It's been so long since she left Helia!"

"She's in stasis. And her usual self."

Aurora raised an eyebrow. "And how is that good news?"

"… Fair point."

"Rendezvous in five minutes?"

Destiny nodded. "I'll see you at the Gate."

Aurora nodded in response, and ended the transmission. Destiny's smile grew bigger when she turned to look at Young.

"That was my sister," she repeated, hardly containing her joy. "I found her."

"Is she coming here?"

Destiny nodded. "We have a lot of catching up to do. And she doesn't know I have a crew yet… that's going to be a shock."

"Hopefully she'll take it better than Freya."

"Any of my sisters would've taken it better than Freya. But let's not digress. We have a guest to welcome aboard, sir."

"Indeed we do."

* * *

_Destiny can barely hold herself together when the Stargate starts spinning and the chevrons engages one after another. Aurora is here, safe and sound. Her little sister. She exchanges a look with Chloe and Eli in the Gateroom, and they look as excited as she does. All the scientists are as well, to a level. That's the second – third, counting herself – Ancient AI they've met in a very short time, and they can't wait to learn more about her. Destiny takes a deep breath and tries to relax. Two chevrons to go. Her heart is threatening to come out of her chest._

_Suddenly she feels a hand on her shoulder. Young squeezes it lightly, with one of his paternal little smiles, but before Destiny can say anything the dialing sequence completes and the wormhole opens._

_Destiny makes a few steps forward towards the Gate. The room is silent, everyone is watching Destiny and the Stargate, waiting. _

_One second later, Aurora appears in the Gate Room, with a beaming smile and barely containing her excitement, much like the older sister, but there are protocols to be followed even in that situation and neither of them is going to ignore them. The two sisters formally salute each other. Aurora requests permission to board the ship, Destiny grants it. Unable to resist any longer, Aurora immediately throws her arms around Destiny and engulfs her big sister in a tight hug. Destiny's response is just as fierce. She can feels tears forming in her eyes, and for the first time in her life she doesn't care if someone is actually going to see her cry._

_Aurora's body stiffens against hers after a couple seconds, enough for Destiny to realize her sister has noticed the people in the room witnessing their reunion, and breaks the hug to give her sister a questioning look._

"_I might not remember all your crewmembers, but I'm certain these ones are not Ancients."_

_Destiny turns and motions for Young and Scott to come closer. "Long story short, sister… these people are my new crew. They come from Atlantus. Earth, in their language. This is my new captain, Colonel Everett Young. Lieutenant Matthew Scott and I serve both as second-in-command. Janek himself officiated the Oath."_

"_Oh. Well, if your captain approves, I don't see why I shouldn't. He always knew how to deal with your inner madness."_

"_Same thing could be said for Alaric."_

_Aurora smiles coyly. "It's funny you mentioned him…"_

"_He ascended too? That's unexpected."_

"_He didn't. Neither did any member of my crew."_

_Destiny's smile vanishes. "Aurora, what have you done?"_

"_Your crew might have been enlightened enough to seek the path to ascension at some point, but I reigned over a crew of misfits. It was less spiritual talk, and more concrete facts, if you get my hint…"_

_Destiny nods. Yes, she gets the hint. Before ascension started to make a comeback, scientists found ways to preserve life beyond death. Some would choose stasis, to wake up decades or centuries in the future. Others would set for uploading their minds into a computer. No one ever tried to inject themselves with nanites – that was strictly reserved for the avatars, for some reason. And apparently, those were the solutions most of Aurora's crew chose._

"_Except for a few that… well, died."_

"_And Alaric?"_

"_Alaric and a few others chose my way to stay young. They got my spare nanites. I know, I know, it's unheard of... but it worked for them."_

"_They?"_

_Aurora smiles, and takes her communication device in her hand. She just says one word: "Come"._

_And they do._

* * *

Whatever Destiny had experienced in her life, didn't prepared her to being embraced by people she knew and loved, and believed dead for centuries. A couple of them were a surprise, Destiny had no idea they made the ship's legitimate crew; the remaining four, not so much, because she remembered all the hotheads she had the privilege to train during her years of service. But when Alaric passed the Stargate and appeared in the Gate Room, Destiny realized that apart from Aurora, he was the only one he truly wanted to see again.

It was true that she screwed up his career with his blessing, but still, he could've been a great addition to the Atlantis expedition. Sometimes Destiny had wondered if she'd done the right thing, but seeing him together with Aurora was enough to make all of her doubts dissipate. It didn't matter what the regulations or the Ancients said, those two were meant to be.

"Well, look who has arrived" he said with a laugh and his trademark smirk, lifting Destiny from the floor with a bone-crashing hug. "I missed you, girl!"

"And here I was worrying about you, Alaric," said Destiny, returning the hug. "I should've known better."

"You know me, I'm always looking for a good fight. I've been busy taking care of a certain someone," and he motioned for Aurora with his head.

"That certain someone," replied Aurora, slightly peeved, "knows how to take care of herself, thank you very much."

"Of course you do. Just let me count the ways I've saved your pretty head through the centuries we spent together."

"Certainly they can't be more than the occasions when I've saved yours."

"Haha. Beg to differ, dear."

"That's funny, love, so do I."

"Ok, you two," said Destiny, "stop fighting like the old married couple you so obviously are. We have a little catching up to do, don't you think?"

Alaric chuckled. "As long as your renowned moonshine is involved, I'm in," he said, and the rest of his former crew nodded in agreement.

"Then I won't be keeping you" added Colonel Young. "We can always talk later."

"Oh, for the Ancestors, where are my manners?" exclaimed Aurora. "Alaric, everybody, meet Colonel Young, my sister's captain. Colonel, this is… well…"

"Ship Captain, Alaric. Janira, Sahal, Ganos and Kol, mechs, short for mechanics. Ayana, weapon officer. Shan, medical officer. Or that's what they did when I knew them, Sir."

"Don't look so pleased with yourself, Miss I-Know-Every-Ancient-That-Ever-Came-To-My-Ship. I call them by name!" retorted Aurora.

"Or don't call us at all," snarked Janira, earning a dirty glare from Aurora and an amused chuckle from Destiny.

"Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you all." said Young. "Welcome aboard."

"Thanks, Colonel," replied Alaric, shaking the hand Young extended him. "The feeling is mutual. Now, Dee… about that moonshine?"

Dee smirked, "Follow me." Colonel Young dismissed her with a nod and a smile, and in a few minutes she gathered all the bottles of alcohol she brewed and a few made by Brody, and joined her sister and his friend on the observation deck.

"Here," said Destiny, handing the bottles to Sahal and Kol. "Aurora and I cannot get drunk…"

"Not for lack of trying, sister…"

"… but that doesn't mean you have to stay sober as well. So let's talk, drink and have fun. I missed your ugly faces."

"As we did yours, Dee," replied Alaric, uncorking the first bottle. "So, why don't you tell us how it's possible you still have a crew?"

"Pure luck, from what I understand. The only things they know about Alteran culture is what the Alterans kept after they decided their history needed revision. They erased everything from their archives but somehow my ship address survived the purge. Stargate Command just wanted to know where a nine-chevron address could lead… and with a little help from a rogue faction of the Lucian Alliance, here we are."

"What do you mean?"

"That when my crew came here they were escaping from the attack. Their gate couldn't dial another address in time; it was their only chance to survive."

"I imagine your joy," Aurora said with a grin, "when they arrived. I guess you even had banners."

Destiny smirked at her sister's snarky comment. "Oh, sister, you know me well. I was in stasis at the time, and the release mechanism malfunctioned. When they got me out… oh well, I was little cranky."

"Like Freya?"

Destiny nodded. "Time fifty. It took me Janek to stop behaving like a child with a bad temper. That, and a lot of patience from my commanding officer."

"Speaking of Young…" said Alaric, "is he a good commander?"

"He's a good captain. He has his share of problems, but a good leader all the same."

"You trust him?"

"I do."

"That's all I need to know. "

"Speaking of things _I_ need to know… what about Helia?" asked Destiny. "Freya made it sound like a dream come true."

"We are probably the least qualified people to talk," said Ayana. "We live in space for most of the time and when we go there it's usually for the medical evaluation and to get more supplies."

"Yeah, but even that is more than what I know right now. So?"

"It's like Dakara. Only with us in charge," said Aurora. "Well… at least it's what it used to be."

"What do you mean?"

"A couple centuries after Freya left, Iras and Leda chose to deactivate their nanites and live a human life. Their descendants are still alive, they oversee everything related to my ship."

"A human life. So they died," said Destiny, her good mood vanishing like snow on a sunny day. "I hoped to see them… you know, have a family reunion."

"Dee, I'm so sorry," said Aurora, hugging her sister. "I should've... Damn me and my stupid mouth."

"No, it's ok. It felt too good to be true, anyway. How did they die?"

"Old, happy and surrounded by their families. It's what they wanted. It was so weird to see them age..."

"It was weird for all of us" said Kol. "Usually it's the other way around."

"And Tria? What happened to her?"

"It depends," said Alaric, after exchanging a look with Aurora. "How much do you know?"

"I know what I was told in the Milky Way. A bunch of lies, according to Freya."

"Well... yes. The story was a little different. Tria and her captain jumped into hyperspace at the last second, but the part no one knew was that her captain's wife and some officers went with them."

"Sorry, what?"

"That woman gave her husband and Tria his blessing, because she was in love with someone else, too... her husband's second-in-command. So they pretended to go along with the execution, and then left the galaxy for good."

"Did they make it here?"

"Not all of them survived the journey. The captain died of radiation poisoning, and his XO of some kind of alien fever. Tria did her best to help the captain's wife survive, but she died a few days after they found us. She was sick, and Tria tried to cure her with the nanites... but her body rejected them, we don't know why but it happens sometimes."

"So Tria made it."

Aurora grimaced and bit her lip, "Actually, she didn't. When we found the ship we discovered she had been dead for years. When Tria gave Helia the nanites, she also hoped she could take care of the ship by herself. As if she were one of us. It worked… barely, but it worked."

"Helia. You named the planet after her?"

"Helia Var incarnated all the things we loved and respected about our creators," explained Aurora." We wanted to honor that."

Destiny nodded, and reached for a bottle. She drank half of it in one go, hoping for a miracle and to wake up a few hours later on the floor, hangover and feeling like hell. She sighed heavily.

"Any other good news I should be made aware of?"

"I'm sorry, Dee," said Aurora looking sad and apologetic. "There wasn't an easy way to say it."

"I know, and I won't hold it against any of you. Just give me a minute to wrap my head around it, OK?"

Suddenly Destiny found six pairs of eyes watching her in complete confusion.

"O…K?"

"...wrap your head?"

"Why would you need to wrap your head?"

"What do those two letters mean?"

Against her will, Destiny felt her lips curling up in a little smile.

"Wrapping your head around something it's a way of saying. It means 'to accept something'. And OK is another way to say yes or to express agreement. My crew says it a lot."

"You've gone native, huh?" said Alaric with a smirk.

Destiny chuckled, "Absolutely. Sister, before I forget… may I talk to you for a second?"

"About…?"

"Freya."

Immediately, Aurora sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "Must we? Really?" she whined.

"Yes, we must. Hand off the bottle and off we go," said Destiny, pointing at the bulkhead. Aurora sighed again and walked out of the observation deck with her eyes glued to the ceiling. Certain things never changed.

With a smile and the promise of both coming back in an half an hour or so, Destiny left her long-lost friends and reached her sister on the corridor.

"Well, well. Let's find an empty room. We need to talk without being interrupted."

"And of what do we need to talk about?"

Destiny dropped her smile and grasped Aurora's elbow, all traces of kindness gone. "You know perfectly well of what I'm talking about! So don't pretend not to know it," she hissed.

"Well I don't, so stop being cryptic!"

Discarding the idea of taking Aurora in her quarters, Destiny dragged her sister into the nearest empty lab she could find and she sealed the bulkhead so that no one would get in by mistake. Aurora immediately distanced herself from Destiny, massaging her sore arm.

"What the hell are you doing? Are you insane?"

"Me? Insane? How about you using Project Arcturus? How about Freya doing her best to force me to solve that equation? Who's the insane one, sister?"

Aurora stopped tending her arm and stared at her sister like she grew a second head. "What did you just say?"

"Don't lie to me!"

"I'm not, for the Ancestor's sake! I used the equation to power the FTL, yes, and I've worked on it from time to time but I've _never_ tried to solve it for good! It was a desperate measure, and it offends me you think I'm reckless enough to use it again!"

"Then why Freya gave me the equation?"

"Because she's crazy? _I don't know_!"

"Think about it, Aurora. Is there someone or something on Helia that might require that source of power?"

Aurora bit her lip and diverted her eyes. "Maybe... But how could she…?"

Destiny sighted and pinched the root of her nose. "Enough. For the love of my crew's God, _enough_. I want some straight answers and I. Want. Them. Now."

"Well, so do I. So let's go have a talk with our beloved sister. I feel the sudden desire to kick her ass!"

Wasting no time, Aurora opened the bulkhead and marched in direction of the Chair room. Destiny, followed her sister and after inserting all the master codes Aurora and she touched the Chair and connected to the mainframe. It didn't take long to find Freya, but the smug smile on her face clearly answered at once all of Destiny's questions about Freya's hidden agenda.

"You manipulative bitch," hissed Destiny.

"And hello to you too, dear sister," Freya greeted her.

"What the hell did you tell her, Freya? We all voted against using this equation ever again!" shouted Aurora.

"Well, it was a stupid decision and I never agreed to that," Freya shrugged.

"The majority decided…"

"Oh, screw that vote!" replied Freya. "I can't believe I'm the only one with a little foresight left! Tell me a little thing, Aurora. How is the situation on Helia? Because, I could bet my head on it, I'm sure the conflict between _them_ is on the verge of exploding."

Only after she said that, Freya remembered Destiny was there too. She didn't look as angry as Aurora did; unlike her, she was the picture of calm. The only telling signs she had reached her boiling point were her darkened eyes and the tightly clenched fists at her sides.

"Let's see if I got this right," she slowly said. "You forced my hand into solving an equation no one wanted solved and convinced me to embark on a 6-month jump that could've been extremely dangerous for my crew's mental and physical health to a promised land that clearly isn't the idyllic place you made it sound. Now I can't shake off the unpleasant feeling that you just used me. Tell me I'm wrong, sister."

"I wish I could, but you're right. I've used you," Freya bluntly said. "I'm sorry, Destiny, that was the only way."

"The only way for _what_?" hissed Destiny. "Give me a reason, or so help me I'll drag you out of stasis and force it out of you with my hands."

"And I'll gladly help her," added Aurora, with the same icy voice.

Freya took a deep breath, as if was the one trying to calm down. "I'm not going to apologize, let's be clear. That equation is leverage in our hands. Power. No one will dare raise a hand against us until we'll hold that power against them."

Aurora shook her head in disbelief. "Great Ancestors, did you listen to yourself? It's of our people you're talking about!"

"Ancients and Alterans, dear sister. I just want to make sure we won't be discarded once more."

"You can't help yourself, can you? Always thinking the worst of people…"

"And I'm right most of the time!" Freya shouted in response. "I can't believe we're having this conversation, Aurora! We trusted them once, and look at what happened to all of us. I'm certainly not making the same mistake again, and I won't certainly apologize for trying to keep what's left of my family safe!"

"You should've told me," said Destiny. "All that crap about me having earned the right to decide for myself…"

"You wouldn't have come. We need you here. For the first time in centuries there'll be more than one of us in charge. They need to remember they came _from_ us, and not the other way around."

"And if it doesn't work, we can scare them with Project Arcturus. Right?"

Destiny frowned, suddenly remembering a detail of the conversation that had sounded a little weird to her. "Freya, you referred to the people of Helia as Alterans and Ancients. Why?"

"I think Aurora knows the answer to that. I saw the beginning of the story, but she can tell us for a fact if my previsions were too optimistic or not."

"Aurora?" asked Destiny, watching her sister. Aurora bit her lip and then raised her eyes from the floor.

"The conflict she referred to… it's between them. I mean, it could be. We tried so hard to eradicate all contrasts, but who could've imagined… Long story short, Destiny, there are two factions on the planet. On one side we have the Alterans: they're our scientists, teachers and politicians. Among them are the descendents of Leda and Iras. They rule the planet. Then there's the rest of them, the Ancients…"

"I don't see the difference. Alterans and Ancients are one and the same."

"Not here. And the difference is in their DNA. At some point, some people started to show genetic mutations. Nothing major at first, but it prompted them to start studying their physiology find new ways to improve themselves. As a result, Alterans' minds are extremely brilliant. They're faster, stronger and smarter than the rest of the population, the ones that decided against the self-directed evolution program."

"The Ancients."

Aurora nodded, "Yes."

"And here comes Project Arcturus into play. This is not going to work."

"With all due respect, I beg to differ, Dee," said Freya."But we're all here, now. We'll see how the situation will evolve, and react accordingly."

Aurora watched her sister with eyes filled with worry. "This sounds like a declaration of war."

"Like I said, Aurora, we wait and see."

Aurora then looked at Destiny, suddenly looking more tired than ever. "Fine" she said after a while. "I don't like it, but I need time to evaluate the situation. If, and only if, the situation escalates and there's nothing we can do about it, then we'll reveal the news about the equation."

"And what about your friends?", said Freya with a coy smile. "Are you denying them the chance to go home?"

"Freya" said Destiny with a tone that admitted no reply, "say another word and I swear to God I'll kill you with my hands. And just so you know… you're getting out of stasis as soon as we're there. Don't even think about leaving me and Aurora to deal with this situation alone."

Freya shrugged, as the decision wouldn't impact her life and health in the slightest. "It seems fair."

Destiny nodded, and left the matrix without saying another word. Aurora immediately followed her, and found her big sister clutching the back of the Chair, breathing deeply with her eyes closed.

"Dee…" started Aurora.

"I'll be fine," Destiny interrupted her, "I just need a minute or I'll go straight to the stasis pod and…"

"I'll take Freya out of stasis," offered Aurora. "I'm angry at her too, but I'm not going to strangle her."

"Ok, do it. But keep her away from me, I beg of you."

Aurora nodded, and left the room. Destiny closed her eyes and took another deep breath.

Another step into the unknown, another leap of faith, another mine field… and less than three hours for her and her captain to get ready for it.

In that moment Destiny realized there was a strong chance God existed for real.

…And he probably hated her.


End file.
